philistine

[ fil-uh-steen, -stahyn, fi-lis-tin, -teen ]

/ ˈfɪl əˌstin, -ˌstaɪn, fɪˈlɪs tɪn, -tin /

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See synonyms for: philistine / philistinism on Thesaurus.com

noun

(sometimes initial capital letter) a person who is lacking in or hostile or smugly indifferent to cultural values, intellectual pursuits, aesthetic refinement, etc., or is contentedly commonplace in ideas and tastes.

(initial capital letter) a native or inhabitant of ancient Philistia.

adjective

(sometimes initial capital letter) lacking in or hostile to culture.

smugly commonplace or conventional.

(initial capital letter) of or belonging to the ancient Philistines.

OTHER WORDS FOR philistine

1 Babbitt, vulgarian.

3 lowbrow.

See synonyms for philistine on Thesaurus.com

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Origin of philistine

1350–1400; Middle English <Late Latin Philistīnī (plural) <Late Greek Philistînoi<Hebrew pəlishtīm

OTHER WORDS FROM philistine

phil·is·tin·ism

[fil-uh-stee-niz-uhm, -stahy-, fi-lis-tuh-niz-uhm, -tee-], /ˈfɪl ə stiˌnɪz əm, -staɪ-, fɪˈlɪs təˌnɪz əm, -ti-/, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use philistine in a sentence

I am subject to these occasional outbreaks—these revolts against Philistinism.
Mount Royal, Volume 2 of 3|Mary Elizabeth Braddon
To say that you do not like them is confession of your own philistinism.
The Feasts of Autolycus|Elizabeth Robins Pennell
For pure Philistinism I don't think I know any town that equals it.
Town Life in Australia|R. E. N. (Richard) Twopeny
A great deal of Tennyson is merely Philistinism made musical.
The Vagabond in Literature|Arthur Rickett

The standpoint of Ranke, whose history is detailed and in certain respects exhaustive, is that of general bourgeois Philistinism.
German Society at the Close of the Middle Ages|Ernest Belfort Bax

British Dictionary definitions for philistine

Philistine

/ (ˈfɪlɪˌstaɪn) /

noun

a person who is unreceptive to or hostile towards culture, the arts, etc; a smug boorish person

a member of the non-Semitic people who inhabited ancient Philistia

adjective

(sometimes not capital) boorishly uncultured

of or relating to the ancient Philistines

Derived forms of Philistine

Philistinism (ˈfɪlɪstɪˌnɪzəm), noun

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