"highbrow" meaning in English

See highbrow in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Adjective

Etymology: A compound of the words high + brow, first recorded usage in 1875. Referring to the (by that time discredited) science of phrenology, which suggested that a person of intelligence and sophistication would possess a higher brow-line than someone of lesser intelligence and sophistication. Etymology templates: {{compound|en|high|brow}} high + brow Head templates: {{en-adj|?}} highbrow
  1. (sometimes derogatory) Intellectually stimulating, highly cultured, sophisticated. Tags: derogatory, sometimes Translations (highly cultured): интелектуален (intelektualen) (Bulgarian), intel·lectual (Catalan), 陽春白雪 (Chinese Mandarin), 阳春白雪 (yángchūnbáixuě) (Chinese Mandarin), intello (French), intellektuell [positive] (German), hochintellektuell (note: of a person or thing; more negative) (German), vergeistigt (German), anspruchsvoll [positive] (German), geistreich (German), geistvoll (German), hochgeistig (note: of a thing also; more negative) (German), hochgestochen (German), hochtrabend (German), bildungsbürgerlich (note: in particular German context) [negative] (German), ardnósach (Irish), intellettuale (Italian), intellettualoide [pejorative] (Italian), ard-inçhynagh (Manx), intelectual (Spanish), cultivado (Spanish), élite (Spanish)
    Sense id: en-highbrow-en-adj-fg8PJBIu Categories (other): English bahuvrihi compounds, English entries with incorrect language header, English entries with language name categories using raw markup Disambiguation of English bahuvrihi compounds: 48 52 Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 72 28 Disambiguation of English entries with language name categories using raw markup: 75 25

Noun

Forms: highbrows [plural]
Etymology: A compound of the words high + brow, first recorded usage in 1875. Referring to the (by that time discredited) science of phrenology, which suggested that a person of intelligence and sophistication would possess a higher brow-line than someone of lesser intelligence and sophistication. Etymology templates: {{compound|en|high|brow}} high + brow Head templates: {{en-noun}} highbrow (plural highbrows)
  1. (sometimes derogatory) A cultured or learned person or thing. Tags: derogatory, sometimes Categories (topical): People Synonyms: intellectual, scholar Translations: интелектуалец (intelektualec) [feminine] (Bulgarian), intello [feminine, masculine] (French), Intellektueller [masculine] (German), Intellektuelle [feminine] (German), intelectual [feminine, masculine] (Portuguese)
    Sense id: en-highbrow-en-noun-dswndZGJ Disambiguation of People: 23 77 Categories (other): English bahuvrihi compounds Disambiguation of English bahuvrihi compounds: 48 52

Inflected forms

Download JSON data for highbrow meaning in English (6.0kB)

{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "high",
        "3": "brow"
      },
      "expansion": "high + brow",
      "name": "compound"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "A compound of the words high + brow, first recorded usage in 1875. Referring to the (by that time discredited) science of phrenology, which suggested that a person of intelligence and sophistication would possess a higher brow-line than someone of lesser intelligence and sophistication.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "?"
      },
      "expansion": "highbrow",
      "name": "en-adj"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adj",
  "senses": [
    {
      "antonyms": [
        {
          "word": "lowbrow"
        }
      ],
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "48 52",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English bahuvrihi compounds",
          "parents": [
            "Bahuvrihi compounds",
            "Compound terms",
            "Exocentric compounds",
            "Terms by etymology"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "72 28",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "75 25",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with language name categories using raw markup",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with language name categories using raw markup",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "highbrow entertainment",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Intellectually stimulating, highly cultured, sophisticated."
      ],
      "id": "en-highbrow-en-adj-fg8PJBIu",
      "links": [
        [
          "derogatory",
          "derogatory"
        ],
        [
          "Intellectually",
          "intellectually"
        ],
        [
          "stimulating",
          "stimulating"
        ],
        [
          "sophisticated",
          "sophisticated"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(sometimes derogatory) Intellectually stimulating, highly cultured, sophisticated."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "derogatory",
        "sometimes"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "bg",
          "lang": "Bulgarian",
          "roman": "intelektualen",
          "sense": "highly cultured",
          "word": "интелектуален"
        },
        {
          "code": "ca",
          "lang": "Catalan",
          "sense": "highly cultured",
          "word": "intel·lectual"
        },
        {
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "sense": "highly cultured",
          "word": "陽春白雪"
        },
        {
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "roman": "yángchūnbáixuě",
          "sense": "highly cultured",
          "word": "阳春白雪"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "highly cultured",
          "word": "intello"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "raw_tags": [
            "of a person or thing"
          ],
          "sense": "highly cultured",
          "tags": [
            "positive"
          ],
          "word": "intellektuell"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "note": "of a person or thing; more negative",
          "sense": "highly cultured",
          "word": "hochintellektuell"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "highly cultured",
          "word": "vergeistigt"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "raw_tags": [
            "of a thing also"
          ],
          "sense": "highly cultured",
          "tags": [
            "positive"
          ],
          "word": "anspruchsvoll"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "highly cultured",
          "word": "geistreich"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "highly cultured",
          "word": "geistvoll"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "note": "of a thing also; more negative",
          "sense": "highly cultured",
          "word": "hochgeistig"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "highly cultured",
          "word": "hochgestochen"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "highly cultured",
          "word": "hochtrabend"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "note": "in particular German context",
          "raw_tags": [
            "of a person"
          ],
          "sense": "highly cultured",
          "tags": [
            "negative"
          ],
          "word": "bildungsbürgerlich"
        },
        {
          "code": "ga",
          "lang": "Irish",
          "sense": "highly cultured",
          "word": "ardnósach"
        },
        {
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "highly cultured",
          "word": "intellettuale"
        },
        {
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "highly cultured",
          "tags": [
            "pejorative"
          ],
          "word": "intellettualoide"
        },
        {
          "code": "gv",
          "lang": "Manx",
          "sense": "highly cultured",
          "word": "ard-inçhynagh"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "highly cultured",
          "word": "intelectual"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "highly cultured",
          "word": "cultivado"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "highly cultured",
          "word": "élite"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "phrenology"
  ],
  "word": "highbrow"
}

{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "high",
        "3": "brow"
      },
      "expansion": "high + brow",
      "name": "compound"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "A compound of the words high + brow, first recorded usage in 1875. Referring to the (by that time discredited) science of phrenology, which suggested that a person of intelligence and sophistication would possess a higher brow-line than someone of lesser intelligence and sophistication.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "highbrows",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "highbrow (plural highbrows)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "antonyms": [
        {
          "word": "lowbrow"
        }
      ],
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "48 52",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English bahuvrihi compounds",
          "parents": [
            "Bahuvrihi compounds",
            "Compound terms",
            "Exocentric compounds",
            "Terms by etymology"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "23 77",
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "People",
          "orig": "en:People",
          "parents": [
            "Human",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Coordinate term: middlebrow"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A cultured or learned person or thing."
      ],
      "id": "en-highbrow-en-noun-dswndZGJ",
      "links": [
        [
          "derogatory",
          "derogatory"
        ],
        [
          "cultured",
          "cultured"
        ],
        [
          "learned",
          "learned"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(sometimes derogatory) A cultured or learned person or thing."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "intellectual"
        },
        {
          "word": "scholar"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "derogatory",
        "sometimes"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "bg",
          "lang": "Bulgarian",
          "roman": "intelektualec",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "интелектуалец"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "tags": [
            "feminine",
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "intello"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "Intellektueller"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "Intellektuelle"
        },
        {
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "tags": [
            "feminine",
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "intelectual"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "phrenology"
  ],
  "word": "highbrow"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English adjective-noun compound nouns",
    "English adjectives",
    "English bahuvrihi compounds",
    "English compound terms",
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English entries with language name categories using raw markup",
    "English lemmas",
    "English nouns",
    "en:People"
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "high",
        "3": "brow"
      },
      "expansion": "high + brow",
      "name": "compound"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "A compound of the words high + brow, first recorded usage in 1875. Referring to the (by that time discredited) science of phrenology, which suggested that a person of intelligence and sophistication would possess a higher brow-line than someone of lesser intelligence and sophistication.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "?"
      },
      "expansion": "highbrow",
      "name": "en-adj"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adj",
  "senses": [
    {
      "antonyms": [
        {
          "word": "lowbrow"
        }
      ],
      "categories": [
        "English derogatory terms",
        "English terms with usage examples"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "highbrow entertainment",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Intellectually stimulating, highly cultured, sophisticated."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "derogatory",
          "derogatory"
        ],
        [
          "Intellectually",
          "intellectually"
        ],
        [
          "stimulating",
          "stimulating"
        ],
        [
          "sophisticated",
          "sophisticated"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(sometimes derogatory) Intellectually stimulating, highly cultured, sophisticated."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "derogatory",
        "sometimes"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "bg",
      "lang": "Bulgarian",
      "roman": "intelektualen",
      "sense": "highly cultured",
      "word": "интелектуален"
    },
    {
      "code": "ca",
      "lang": "Catalan",
      "sense": "highly cultured",
      "word": "intel·lectual"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "sense": "highly cultured",
      "word": "陽春白雪"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "roman": "yángchūnbáixuě",
      "sense": "highly cultured",
      "word": "阳春白雪"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "highly cultured",
      "word": "intello"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "raw_tags": [
        "of a person or thing"
      ],
      "sense": "highly cultured",
      "tags": [
        "positive"
      ],
      "word": "intellektuell"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "note": "of a person or thing; more negative",
      "sense": "highly cultured",
      "word": "hochintellektuell"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "highly cultured",
      "word": "vergeistigt"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "raw_tags": [
        "of a thing also"
      ],
      "sense": "highly cultured",
      "tags": [
        "positive"
      ],
      "word": "anspruchsvoll"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "highly cultured",
      "word": "geistreich"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "highly cultured",
      "word": "geistvoll"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "note": "of a thing also; more negative",
      "sense": "highly cultured",
      "word": "hochgeistig"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "highly cultured",
      "word": "hochgestochen"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "highly cultured",
      "word": "hochtrabend"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "note": "in particular German context",
      "raw_tags": [
        "of a person"
      ],
      "sense": "highly cultured",
      "tags": [
        "negative"
      ],
      "word": "bildungsbürgerlich"
    },
    {
      "code": "ga",
      "lang": "Irish",
      "sense": "highly cultured",
      "word": "ardnósach"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "highly cultured",
      "word": "intellettuale"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "highly cultured",
      "tags": [
        "pejorative"
      ],
      "word": "intellettualoide"
    },
    {
      "code": "gv",
      "lang": "Manx",
      "sense": "highly cultured",
      "word": "ard-inçhynagh"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "highly cultured",
      "word": "intelectual"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "highly cultured",
      "word": "cultivado"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "highly cultured",
      "word": "élite"
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "phrenology"
  ],
  "word": "highbrow"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "English adjective-noun compound nouns",
    "English adjectives",
    "English bahuvrihi compounds",
    "English compound terms",
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English entries with language name categories using raw markup",
    "English lemmas",
    "English nouns",
    "en:People"
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "high",
        "3": "brow"
      },
      "expansion": "high + brow",
      "name": "compound"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "A compound of the words high + brow, first recorded usage in 1875. Referring to the (by that time discredited) science of phrenology, which suggested that a person of intelligence and sophistication would possess a higher brow-line than someone of lesser intelligence and sophistication.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "highbrows",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "highbrow (plural highbrows)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "antonyms": [
        {
          "word": "lowbrow"
        }
      ],
      "categories": [
        "English derogatory terms"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Coordinate term: middlebrow"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A cultured or learned person or thing."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "derogatory",
          "derogatory"
        ],
        [
          "cultured",
          "cultured"
        ],
        [
          "learned",
          "learned"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(sometimes derogatory) A cultured or learned person or thing."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "intellectual"
        },
        {
          "word": "scholar"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "derogatory",
        "sometimes"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "bg",
      "lang": "Bulgarian",
      "roman": "intelektualec",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "интелектуалец"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "tags": [
        "feminine",
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "intello"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "Intellektueller"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "Intellektuelle"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "tags": [
        "feminine",
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "intelectual"
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "phrenology"
  ],
  "word": "highbrow"
}
{
  "called_from": "page/2517",
  "msg": "UNIMPLEMENTED parse_translation_template: trans-top-see {1: 'intellectual', 2: 'intellectual'}",
  "path": [
    "highbrow",
    "trans-top-see"
  ],
  "section": "English",
  "subsection": "noun",
  "title": "highbrow",
  "trace": ""
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-06 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-05-02 using wiktextract (f4fd8c9 and c9440ce). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.