as in vulgar
lacking in refinement or good taste
at office gatherings his lowbrow humor often embarrassed his coworkers
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in philistine
a person who is chiefly interested in material comfort and is hostile or indifferent to art and culture
the town's lowbrows think that the school's music program is a complete waste of taxpayers' money
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of lowbrow
Jesse David Fox, Vulture, 10 July 2024
Tobe Hooper’s 1974 slasher masterpiece embraced its lowbrow status with its matter-of-fact title and unapologetic gore, likely seen by many as a cheap attempt to ride shock value into a quick box office gold mine.
—Christian Zilko, IndieWire, 21 Sep. 2024
To go and see the theater one day, and then go to a Disney park, one is highbrow and one is lowbrow and that’s elitist.
—Todd Martens, Los Angeles Times, 18 July 2024
Still, to reduce this complex and original comedy to its most lowbrow moments (true, the basketball scene is horrifying) is to miss out on its oceans of brilliant writing and mid-aughts charm.
—Wilson Chapman, IndieWire, 16 July 2024
See All Example Sentences for lowbrow
Adjective
What Should the New Name Be? Clearly, the goal was a name that felt neither too highbrow nor too lowbrow, as restaurants have been trending toward an unstuffy seriousness for decades.
—Jesse David Fox, Vulture, 10 July 2024
Tobe Hooper’s 1974 slasher masterpiece embraced its lowbrow status with its matter-of-fact title and unapologetic gore, likely seen by many as a cheap attempt to ride shock value into a quick box office gold mine.
—Christian Zilko, IndieWire, 21 Sep. 2024
To go and see the theater one day, and then go to a Disney park, one is highbrow and one is lowbrow and that’s elitist.
—Todd Martens, Los Angeles Times, 18 July 2024
Still, to reduce this complex and original comedy to its most lowbrow moments (true, the basketball scene is horrifying) is to miss out on its oceans of brilliant writing and mid-aughts charm.
—Wilson Chapman, IndieWire, 16 July 2024
See All Example Sentences for lowbrow
Recent Examples of Synonyms for lowbrow
Adjective
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By The Athletic’s count, over nine innings during the Yankees’ 6-2 win over the Mets, those fans aimed the same vulgar chant at Soto a whopping 38 times.—
Will Sammon,
New York Times,
17 May 2025
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Because at the time, Madonna was seen as this controversial and sort of vulgar character.—
Terry Gross,
NPR,
17 July 2025
Adjective
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After a game in January where Luna played through a broken nose and registered an assist despite being elbowed in the face by a player from Costa Rica, Pochettino praised his young midfielder with a memorably crass description.—
Christian Babcock,
Mercury News,
16 June 2025
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Swearing and vulgarity aren’t just crass or abusive.—
CNN Money,
CNN Money,
15 June 2025
Adjective
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Some posed for photos, others made rude gestures, and many simply stared.—
Jasmine Baehr,
FOXNews.com,
27 July 2025
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The movie’s off-color humor wouldn’t fly today, but its rebellious spirit remains hilariously defiant — a refreshingly rude retort to the niceties of family films and their cringey feel-good messages.—
Tim Grierson,
Vulture,
25 July 2025
Adjective
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While once plentiful, lake sturgeon are now far less common.—
Diana Leyva,
The Tennessean,
31 July 2025
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The clinic tests and treats people with TB, which is very common in other parts of the world.—
Nicole Villalpando,
Austin American Statesman,
31 July 2025
Noun
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The early stages of a comedian’s career is about finding your clown — the core of what is funny about you — and then acclimating audiences to it.—
Jesse David Fox,
Vulture,
30 July 2025
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There will also be a nightly circus show featuring aerialists, acrobats, clowns, jugglers and motorcycle stunt riders.—
Abby Hamblin,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
28 July 2025
Adjective
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The essence of the review is evaluation, which of course doesn’t imply the crude simplicity of a thumbs-up or thumbs-down.—
Richard Brody,
New Yorker,
24 July 2025
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Oil prices have been soft this year, with West Texas Intermediate crude futures off about 9% per barrel, and Brent crude futures down 8%.—
Darla Mercado, CFP®,
CNBC,
23 July 2025
Adjective
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With Bill Murray killing as a preening champion, this coarse, dumb, hilarious film is primo Farrelly brothers during their golden age that, unfairly, got slept on at the time.—
Tim Grierson,
Vulture,
25 July 2025
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Gordon is not an especially confessional writer, but his voice, which at times stretches into a coarse falsetto, contains enormous amounts of emotion.—
Amanda Petrusich,
New Yorker,
21 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Lowbrow.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/lowbrow. Accessed 6 Aug. 2025.
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