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Synonyms

lowbrow

American  
[loh-brou, loh-brou] / ˈloʊˌbraʊ, ˈloʊˈbraʊ /

noun

  1. a person who is uninterested, uninvolved, or uneducated in intellectual activities or pursuits.

adjective

  1. being a lowbrow.

    that lowbrow idiot.

  2. of, relating to, or proper to a lowbrow.

    lowbrow entertainment.
lowbrow British  
/ ˈləʊˌbraʊ /

noun

  1. a person who has uncultivated or nonintellectual tastes

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

adjective

  1. of or characteristic of such a person

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
lowbrow Cultural  

  1. Unsophisticated, uncultured, vulgar: “My blind date took me to a mud-wrestling match. What a lowbrow evening!”

Other Word Forms

  • lowbrowism noun

Etymology

Origin of lowbrow

An Americanism dating back to 1905–10; low 1 + brow

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Highbrow or lowbrow, we have gathered here to serve humanity’s darkest impulses.

From Slate • Feb. 23, 2026

Of course, he’d likely do all that during a campaign while continuing his lowbrow online jabbing, since the online world remains a parallel reality where anything goes.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 8, 2026

Beyond the lowbrow perception of buying wine at a bulk retailer, wineries risk alienating loyal customers if their bottles sell for less than they offer them at the vineyards.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 26, 2025

The very name conjures images of sweltering summer picnics, soggy sandwiches and a kind of lowbrow indulgence we don’t like to admit we enjoy.

From Salon • Mar. 27, 2025

Eliminating those unfamiliar with the Stooges’ slapstick, physical, lowbrow comedy, I found that an overwhelming 8 percent of my sample admitted to such an indulgence.

From "Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences" by John Allen Paulos

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.