anti-intellectualism

American  

[an-tee-in-tl-ek-choo-uh-liz-uhm, an-tahy‑] / ˌæn tiˌɪn tlˈɛk tʃu əˌlɪz əm, ˌæn taɪ‑ /

noun

1. opposition to or hostility toward intellectuals and the modern academic, artistic, social, religious, and other theories associated with them.

   These “denial” movements are manifestations of a growing anti-intellectualism arising against science and scientists.

2. the belief or doctrine that intellect and reason are less important than actions and emotions in solving practical problems and understanding reality.

   Much of the country’s cultural history reflects a swinging back and forth between collective action and a rugged individualism based on anti-intellectualism.

---

Etymology

Origin of anti-intellectualism

anti- ( def. ) + intellectualism

Example Sentences

“There is growing in this country a wave of anti-intellectualism which is violently opposed to free speech and free expression,” he said.

From Slate • Mar. 17, 2025

This idea may not seem all that radical, but anti-intellectualism runs deep in the American theater.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 8, 2023

As Richard Hofstadter remarked some 60 years ago, anti-intellectualism and paranoia are American traditions embedded in the national experience.

From Salon • Jul. 31, 2022

But there were signs in that first campaign of Johnson’s predilection for anti-intellectualism.

From Seattle Times • Mar. 21, 2021

But behind that is a general attitude of anti-intellectualism which is our heritage from the disastrous wars of the Twentieth and Twenty-first Centuries.

From Null-ABC by Dongen, H. R. van