"lowbrow" meaning in English

See lowbrow in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Adjective

IPA: /ˈloʊbɹaʊ/ [General-American], /ˈləʊbɹaʊ/ [Received-Pronunciation] Forms: more lowbrow [comparative], most lowbrow [superlative]
Etymology: A bahuvrihi compound of low + brow, Americanism, circa 1902. Refers to the (by that time discredited) pseudoscience of phrenology, which suggested that a person of low intelligence and sophistication would possess a lower brow-line than someone of greater intelligence and sophistication. Etymology templates: {{compound|en|low|brow}} low + brow Head templates: {{en-adj}} lowbrow (comparative more lowbrow, superlative most lowbrow)
  1. Unsophisticated, not intended for an audience of intelligence, education or culture. Translations (unsophisticated): səviyyəsiz (Azerbaijani), matalaotsainen (Finnish), luiskaotsainen (Finnish), bas de plafond (French), niveaulos (German), ungebildet (German), banausisch (German), низкопро́бный (nizkopróbnyj) (Russian), низкосо́ртный (nizkosórtnyj) (Russian), по́шлый (póšlyj) (Russian)
    Sense id: en-lowbrow-en-adj--JLTk6aW
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Synonyms: low-brow

Noun

IPA: /ˈloʊbɹaʊ/ [General-American], /ˈləʊbɹaʊ/ [Received-Pronunciation] Forms: lowbrows [plural]
Etymology: A bahuvrihi compound of low + brow, Americanism, circa 1902. Refers to the (by that time discredited) pseudoscience of phrenology, which suggested that a person of low intelligence and sophistication would possess a lower brow-line than someone of greater intelligence and sophistication. Etymology templates: {{compound|en|low|brow}} low + brow Head templates: {{en-noun|~}} lowbrow (countable and uncountable, plural lowbrows)
  1. (countable) Someone or something of low education or culture. Tags: countable Translations (Someone of low culture): Kulturbanause [masculine] (German)
    Sense id: en-lowbrow-en-noun-sX9IR3UD Disambiguation of 'Someone of low culture': 91 9
  2. (uncountable, art) An underground populist visual art movement that arose in the Los Angeles area in the late 1960s, inspired by comics, punk music, graffiti, etc. Tags: uncountable Categories (topical): Art
    Sense id: en-lowbrow-en-noun-7ygxV9vE 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: 37 3 59 Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 36 1 64 Disambiguation of English entries with language name categories using raw markup: 33 1 66 Topics: art, arts
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Synonyms: low-brow, idiot Related terms: highbrow, middlebrow, no-brow

Inflected forms

Alternative forms

Download JSON data for lowbrow meaning in English (5.2kB)

{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "low",
        "3": "brow"
      },
      "expansion": "low + brow",
      "name": "compound"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "A bahuvrihi compound of low + brow, Americanism, circa 1902. Refers to the (by that time discredited) pseudoscience of phrenology, which suggested that a person of low intelligence and sophistication would possess a lower brow-line than someone of greater intelligence and sophistication.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "more lowbrow",
      "tags": [
        "comparative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "most lowbrow",
      "tags": [
        "superlative"
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  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "lowbrow (comparative more lowbrow, superlative most lowbrow)",
      "name": "en-adj"
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  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adj",
  "senses": [
    {
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "The Three Stooges are known for their lowbrow slapstick humor consisting of foolish action for the masses."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Unsophisticated, not intended for an audience of intelligence, education or culture."
      ],
      "id": "en-lowbrow-en-adj--JLTk6aW",
      "links": [
        [
          "Unsophisticated",
          "unsophisticated"
        ],
        [
          "intelligence",
          "intelligence"
        ],
        [
          "education",
          "education"
        ],
        [
          "culture",
          "culture"
        ]
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "az",
          "lang": "Azerbaijani",
          "sense": "unsophisticated",
          "word": "səviyyəsiz"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "unsophisticated",
          "word": "matalaotsainen"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "unsophisticated",
          "word": "luiskaotsainen"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "unsophisticated",
          "word": "bas de plafond"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "unsophisticated",
          "word": "niveaulos"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "unsophisticated",
          "word": "ungebildet"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "unsophisticated",
          "word": "banausisch"
        },
        {
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "nizkopróbnyj",
          "sense": "unsophisticated",
          "word": "низкопро́бный"
        },
        {
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "nizkosórtnyj",
          "sense": "unsophisticated",
          "word": "низкосо́ртный"
        },
        {
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "póšlyj",
          "sense": "unsophisticated",
          "word": "по́шлый"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈloʊbɹaʊ/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈləʊbɹaʊ/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "low-brow"
    }
  ],
  "word": "lowbrow"
}

{
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  "etymology_templates": [
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      "args": {
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        "2": "low",
        "3": "brow"
      },
      "expansion": "low + brow",
      "name": "compound"
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  ],
  "etymology_text": "A bahuvrihi compound of low + brow, Americanism, circa 1902. Refers to the (by that time discredited) pseudoscience of phrenology, which suggested that a person of low intelligence and sophistication would possess a lower brow-line than someone of greater intelligence and sophistication.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "lowbrows",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "~"
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      "expansion": "lowbrow (countable and uncountable, plural lowbrows)",
      "name": "en-noun"
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  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "highbrow"
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    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "middlebrow"
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      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "no-brow"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [],
      "glosses": [
        "Someone or something of low education or culture."
      ],
      "id": "en-lowbrow-en-noun-sX9IR3UD",
      "links": [
        [
          "education",
          "education"
        ],
        [
          "culture",
          "culture"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(countable) Someone or something of low education or culture."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "countable"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "91 9",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "Someone of low culture",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "Kulturbanause"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Art",
          "orig": "en:Art",
          "parents": [
            "Culture",
            "Society",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
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          "_dis": "37 3 59",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English bahuvrihi compounds",
          "parents": [
            "Bahuvrihi compounds",
            "Compound terms",
            "Exocentric compounds",
            "Terms by etymology"
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          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "36 1 64",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "33 1 66",
          "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"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "An underground populist visual art movement that arose in the Los Angeles area in the late 1960s, inspired by comics, punk music, graffiti, etc."
      ],
      "id": "en-lowbrow-en-noun-7ygxV9vE",
      "links": [
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          "art#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "underground",
          "underground"
        ],
        [
          "populist",
          "populist"
        ],
        [
          "visual art",
          "visual art"
        ],
        [
          "movement",
          "movement"
        ],
        [
          "Los Angeles",
          "Los Angeles"
        ],
        [
          "comic",
          "comic"
        ],
        [
          "punk",
          "punk"
        ],
        [
          "graffiti",
          "graffiti"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(uncountable, art) An underground populist visual art movement that arose in the Los Angeles area in the late 1960s, inspired by comics, punk music, graffiti, etc."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "uncountable"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "art",
        "arts"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈloʊbɹaʊ/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈləʊbɹaʊ/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "low-brow"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "idiot"
    }
  ],
  "word": "lowbrow"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English 2-syllable words",
    "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",
    "English terms with IPA pronunciation",
    "English uncountable nouns"
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "low",
        "3": "brow"
      },
      "expansion": "low + brow",
      "name": "compound"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "A bahuvrihi compound of low + brow, Americanism, circa 1902. Refers to the (by that time discredited) pseudoscience of phrenology, which suggested that a person of low intelligence and sophistication would possess a lower brow-line than someone of greater intelligence and sophistication.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "more lowbrow",
      "tags": [
        "comparative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "most lowbrow",
      "tags": [
        "superlative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "lowbrow (comparative more lowbrow, superlative most lowbrow)",
      "name": "en-adj"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adj",
  "senses": [
    {
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "The Three Stooges are known for their lowbrow slapstick humor consisting of foolish action for the masses."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Unsophisticated, not intended for an audience of intelligence, education or culture."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "Unsophisticated",
          "unsophisticated"
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        [
          "intelligence",
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          "education"
        ],
        [
          "culture",
          "culture"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈloʊbɹaʊ/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈləʊbɹaʊ/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "low-brow"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "az",
      "lang": "Azerbaijani",
      "sense": "unsophisticated",
      "word": "səviyyəsiz"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "unsophisticated",
      "word": "matalaotsainen"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "unsophisticated",
      "word": "luiskaotsainen"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "unsophisticated",
      "word": "bas de plafond"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "unsophisticated",
      "word": "niveaulos"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "unsophisticated",
      "word": "ungebildet"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "unsophisticated",
      "word": "banausisch"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "nizkopróbnyj",
      "sense": "unsophisticated",
      "word": "низкопро́бный"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "nizkosórtnyj",
      "sense": "unsophisticated",
      "word": "низкосо́ртный"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "póšlyj",
      "sense": "unsophisticated",
      "word": "по́шлый"
    }
  ],
  "word": "lowbrow"
}

{
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    {
      "word": "highbrow"
    }
  ],
  "categories": [
    "English 2-syllable words",
    "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",
    "English terms with IPA pronunciation",
    "English uncountable nouns"
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "low",
        "3": "brow"
      },
      "expansion": "low + brow",
      "name": "compound"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "A bahuvrihi compound of low + brow, Americanism, circa 1902. Refers to the (by that time discredited) pseudoscience of phrenology, which suggested that a person of low intelligence and sophistication would possess a lower brow-line than someone of greater intelligence and sophistication.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "lowbrows",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "~"
      },
      "expansion": "lowbrow (countable and uncountable, plural lowbrows)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "highbrow"
    },
    {
      "word": "middlebrow"
    },
    {
      "word": "no-brow"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English countable nouns"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Someone or something of low education or culture."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "education",
          "education"
        ],
        [
          "culture",
          "culture"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(countable) Someone or something of low education or culture."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "countable"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English uncountable nouns",
        "en:Art"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "An underground populist visual art movement that arose in the Los Angeles area in the late 1960s, inspired by comics, punk music, graffiti, etc."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "art",
          "art#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "underground",
          "underground"
        ],
        [
          "populist",
          "populist"
        ],
        [
          "visual art",
          "visual art"
        ],
        [
          "movement",
          "movement"
        ],
        [
          "Los Angeles",
          "Los Angeles"
        ],
        [
          "comic",
          "comic"
        ],
        [
          "punk",
          "punk"
        ],
        [
          "graffiti",
          "graffiti"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(uncountable, art) An underground populist visual art movement that arose in the Los Angeles area in the late 1960s, inspired by comics, punk music, graffiti, etc."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "uncountable"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "art",
        "arts"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈloʊbɹaʊ/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈləʊbɹaʊ/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "idiot"
    },
    {
      "word": "low-brow"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "Someone of low culture",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "Kulturbanause"
    }
  ],
  "word": "lowbrow"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-04-26 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-21 using wiktextract (93a6c53 and 21a9316). 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.

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