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• philistine
  philistine

  noun

  a person who is lacking in or hostile or smugly indifferent to cultural values, intellectual pursuits, aesthetic refinement, etc., or is contentedly commonplace in ideas and tastes.
• Philistine
  Philistine

  noun

  a person who is unreceptive to or hostile towards culture, the arts, etc; a smug boorish person

philistine

American  

[fil-uh-steen, -stahyn, fi-lis-tin, -teen] / ˈfɪl əˌstin, -ˌstaɪn, fɪˈlɪs tɪn, -tin /

noun

1. (sometimes initial capital letter) a person who is lacking in or hostile or smugly indifferent to cultural values, intellectual pursuits, aesthetic refinement, etc., or is contentedly commonplace in ideas and tastes.

   Synonyms:

   vulgarian, Babbitt

2. (initial capital letter) a native or inhabitant of ancient Philistia.

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adjective

1. (sometimes initial capital letter) lacking in or hostile to culture.

   Synonyms:

   lowbrow

2. smugly commonplace or conventional.

3. (initial capital letter) of or belonging to the ancient Philistines.

Philistine British  

/ ˈfɪlɪˌstaɪn /

noun

1. a person who is unreceptive to or hostile towards culture, the arts, etc; a smug boorish person

2. a member of the non-Semitic people who inhabited ancient Philistia

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adjective

1. (sometimes not capital) boorishly uncultured

2. of or relating to the ancient Philistines

Other Word Forms

• Philistinism
  noun
• philistinism
  noun

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Etymology

Origin of philistine

1350–1400; Middle English < Late Latin Philistīnī (plural) < Late Greek Philistînoi < Hebrew pəlishtīm

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Explanation

A philistine is a person who doesn’t think a lot and isn't interested in learning. Your uncle Marvin, who's only interested in eating, sleeping, and watching game shows, could be considered a philistine. In the late 17th century, during a conflict in Jena, Germany, between townspeople and students, someone referred to the townspeople as “Philistines.” Since then, philistine has described someone who stands against learning and the arts. And if you don’t start reading the great Russian authors, someone might suggest that you have a philistine attitude toward literature — the word can also be used as an adjective describing a person or thing that displays indifference to the arts and intellectual pursuits.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

philistine Philistine

Woe betide the philistine who requests a salt shaker or asks that a meticulously prepared dish be spice-bombed.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026

I must add that, as you drive in Boston now, across the Longfellow Bridge to the Ted Williams Tunnel, it’s pretty obvious that high culture has its philistine competition.

From New York Times ● Jan. 18, 2023

Literature, cinema and theater are seen as beacons of enlightenment in a philistine world.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 21, 2020

After my own dalliance with carving cucumber slices to resemble Pac-Man, I knew exactly what my little philistine would do with dinosaur-shaped salmon cakes and Teenage Mutant Ninja Tacos.

From Washington Post ● Jan. 24, 2020

The Jerry philistine proceeded to wad everything I could remember of “Tam o’Shanter” into balls of wastepaper.

From "Code Name Verity" by Elizabeth Wein

Samson’s self-sacrifice in defeating his Philistine enemies was used by Samuel Adams and others to illustrate the “zeal” of the Sons of Liberty.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 22, 2025

It was built on the site of an ancient Philistine temple before being converted into a church and then a mosque.

From BBC ● Nov. 7, 2024

Part of an ancient Philistine confederacy of five cities along the coastal plain, it featured in Biblical accounts: the judge Samson was held in captivity there.

From Reuters ● Nov. 2, 2023

That would make the silver plate a pretty specific allegory for the Eastern Roman emperor as God’s designated champion on earth, like David, the victorious underdog in the struggle against the Philistine giant.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 27, 2022

David offered himself to Saul to fight Goliath, the Philistine challenger.

From "The Prince" by Niccolò Machiavelli

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