highbrow
Americannoun
-
a person of superior intellectual interests and tastes.
-
a person with intellectual or cultural pretensions; intellectual snob.
-
the crestfish.
adjective
noun
adjective
Other Word Forms
- highbrowism noun
Etymology
Origin of highbrow
Explanation
Someone highbrow is highly cultured and sophisticated. You can call such a person a highbrow. Certain types of art are considered sophisticated, cultured, and respectable: like opera and classical music. Anything highbrow is usually intellectual in nature, and people who appreciate such things are also called highbrows. Highbrows usually have money and are sometimes considered snobby or hoity-toity. The opposite of highbrow is lowbrow, which refers to vulgar and less sophisticated culture and people. A book by a professor would probably be highbrow, while a book by a reality TV star is probably lowbrow.
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.
At the time, Bravo was forging a new identity in reality programming after years as a niche cable network that aired highbrow art films, opera and ballet.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 24, 2026
First with the Cambridge Footlights and later with the Pythons, Idle honed a linguistically-focused style that bridged highbrow absurdity and accessible, pop culture-driven humor.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 23, 2026
In 1974, he founded his own firm specializing in entertainment law, a niche many highbrow Wall Street lawyers dismissed as frivolous at the time.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 18, 2026
He reaped great commercial rewards with cutting-edge highbrow material—yet sometimes felt his audience couldn’t keep up.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 29, 2025
She closed her eyes and soaked it in the way you imagine people at a fancy orchestra concert drinking up highbrow music.
From "The Secret Life of Bees" by Sue Monk Kidd
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.
