as in intellectual
much given to learning and thinking
finally, a TV series that appeals to a highbrow audience
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in nerd
a person with strong intellectual interests
guests at her elegant dinner parties are a mix of the city's highbrows and captains of industry
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Recent Examples of highbrow
Mark Olsen, Los Angeles Times, 22 Sep. 2023
Tár is its highbrow counterpart, teasing and celebrating the same personal crisis and class issues.
—Armond White, National Review, 27 Jan. 2023
But in the pandemic’s wake, the chief human resources officer has morphed into a highbrow position, working with CEOs to drive attraction and retention among a myriad of other talent operations.
—Paolo Confino, Fortune, 4 Jan. 2023
Margot Robbie, playing Barbie, is clad in an exact re-creation of the original Barbie’s outfit; Gerwig is clearly thinking about the interplay between highbrow and lowbrow, between art and commercialism.
—Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 19 Dec. 2022
See All Example Sentences for highbrow
Noun
The roll call of films ranges from the highbrow to the decidedly grungy, the menu of a true movie fanatic.
—Mark Olsen, Los Angeles Times, 22 Sep. 2023
Tár is its highbrow counterpart, teasing and celebrating the same personal crisis and class issues.
—Armond White, National Review, 27 Jan. 2023
But in the pandemic’s wake, the chief human resources officer has morphed into a highbrow position, working with CEOs to drive attraction and retention among a myriad of other talent operations.
—Paolo Confino, Fortune, 4 Jan. 2023
Margot Robbie, playing Barbie, is clad in an exact re-creation of the original Barbie’s outfit; Gerwig is clearly thinking about the interplay between highbrow and lowbrow, between art and commercialism.
—Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 19 Dec. 2022
See All Example Sentences for highbrow
Recent Examples of Synonyms for highbrow
Adjective
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As with any topical supplemental essay prompt, the admissions committee’s goal when posing this question is to learn more about a student and whether that student is a fit for Duke’s intellectual community.—
Christopher Rim,
Forbes.com,
30 July 2025
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The post was a calm image that’s minimal yet commanding, with clean typography and a modern monochrome palette that suggests both intellectual depth and style authority.—
Karissa Mitchell,
Essence,
29 July 2025
Adjective
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This was the height of San Sebastian’s reign as the European city with the most Michelin stars per capita—an era of relentless invention, experimentation and cerebral modernist cuisine.—
Ann Abel,
Forbes.com,
22 July 2025
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Rarely will the path to any one gem require heavy thought or planning; the game’s more concerned about making sure the physical actions required to get to the destination feel more satisfying than any cerebral solutions.—
Christopher Cruz,
Rolling Stone,
16 July 2025
Adjective
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This family journey deeply shaped Fisher’s lifelong scholarly drive to chronicle the struggles and the triumphs of Black communities in the American West.—
Sacbee.com,
Sacbee.com,
14 July 2025
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Of course, the sort of collection that attracts scholarly attention tends toward the rare and precious rather than Izod alligators.—
Libby Buck
July 1,
Literary Hub,
1 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Highbrow.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/highbrow. Accessed 6 Aug. 2025.
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