anti-intellectual
[an-tee-in-tl-ek-choo-uh l, an-tahy‐]
- a person opposed to or hostile toward intellectuals and the modern academic, artistic, social, religious, and other theories associated with them.
- a person who believes that intellect and reason are less important than actions and emotions in solving practical problems and understanding reality.
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- of, relating to, or characteristic of anti-intellectuals or their beliefs.
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Also an·ti-in·tel·lec·tu·al·ist.
Origin of anti-intellectual
First recorded in 1935–40
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for anti-intellectual
Contemporary Examples
What possible change can any one citizen instigate against that barrage of anti-intellectual, gun-toting paranoia?
But anarchism is a logical outgrowth of the anti-intellectual side of collectivism.
But if Reagan burnished the anti-intellectual brand, Bush has now wrecked it.
But it was under Ronald Reagan that the anti-intellectual era in American politics truly began.
Historical Examples
Is Fascism therefore "anti-intellectual," as has been so often charged?
This movement, of which Courbet will always remain the most famous representative, has been anti-intellectual.
The French Impressionists (1860-1900)Camille Mauclair
Word Origin and History for anti-intellectual
1821 (adj.), from anti- + intellectual. As a noun meaning "an anti-intellectual person" from 1913.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper