highbrow

[ hahy-brou ]

/ ˈhaɪˌbraʊ /

Save This Word!

See synonyms for highbrow on Thesaurus.com

noun

a person of superior intellectual interests and tastes.

a person with intellectual or cultural pretensions; intellectual snob.

the crestfish.

adjective

Also highbrowed . of, relating to, or characteristic of a highbrow.

OTHER WORDS FOR highbrow

4 intellectual, scholarly, cultured; bookish, snobbish, pseudointellectual.

See synonyms for highbrow on Thesaurus.com

QUIZ

SPRINT TO THE FINISH WITH THIS OLYMPICS QUIZ!

Compete in our Olympics quiz to see if you can take home the gold medal in Olympics knowledge.

Question 1 of 10

Where was the Olympics first held?

ancient Rome

ancient Greece

ancient Persia

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Meet Grammar Coach

Write or paste your essay, email, or story into Grammar Coach and get grammar help

Improve Your Writing

Meet Grammar CoachImprove Your Writing

Origin of highbrow

First recorded in 1895–1900; high + brow

OTHER WORDS FROM highbrow

highbrowism, noun

Words nearby highbrow

high board, highborn, highboy, high brass, highbred, highbrow, highbush blueberry, highbush cranberry, highbush huckleberry, high calorie diet, high camp

How to use highbrow in a sentence

For better or worse, we’re watching a genre step off its highbrow pedestal—one that supported it through the making of many classic and literally world-changing films, but also helped to limit its audience.
How Docu-Mania Took Streaming by Storm, From Tiger King to WeWork|Judy Berman|April 1, 2021|Time
Plato argued that true learning must be more than what Deresiewicz calls “highbrow entertainment for the moneyed class.”
The Ivy League Provides the Best Trade Schools Around|Nick Romeo|August 17, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Turns out highbrow culture can be found in the sunshine state.
A Dali Museum as Playful as its Namesake|Starbucks|July 10, 2014|DAILY BEAST
It's no longer the highbrow mecca of fashion it once was, after all.
Kim Kardashian and Kanye West Finally Cover 'Vogue' and the Twitterati Hate It|Marlow Stern|March 22, 2014|DAILY BEAST

For highbrow patrons who are more familiar with Tolstoy than Ivan Drago, head to the Russian Tea Room.
Where to Celebrate the Olympics by Drinking Russian Style|William O’Connor|February 6, 2014|DAILY BEAST
It's where you rub shoulders with the big boys and enjoy highbrow ambiance.
The Peres Parade: A Macher's Paradise|Elisheva Goldberg|June 19, 2013|DAILY BEAST
"They recently let me join a highbrow mountain club; but when I start for the rocks I hesitate," Deering resumed.
Northwest!|Harold Bindloss
They reckon they're highbrow frontier cavalry and I guess the trooper won't allow a girl held him up.
Northwest!|Harold Bindloss
Weren't there to be any cakes and ale in New York simply because a highbrow happened to be mayor?
By Advice of Counsel|Arthur Train
She had met him at some highbrow affair—it was a reception or some such social maelstrom—and, yes, his name was Bowles!
Bat Wing Bowles|Dane Coolidge
Well, symphony—more of the highbrow stuff, I guess you would say.
Warren Commission (8 of 26): Hearings Vol. VIII (of 15)|The President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy

British Dictionary definitions for highbrow

highbrow

/ (ˈhaɪˌbraʊ) often derogatory /

noun

a person of scholarly and erudite tastes

adjective Also: highbrowed

appealing to highbrowshighbrow literature

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

highbrow

OTHER WORDS FOR highbrow

Origin of highbrow

OTHER WORDS FROM highbrow

Words nearby highbrow

Words related to highbrow

How to use highbrow in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for highbrow