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highbrowed

highbrowed

8.2
Someone who shows educated, serious tastes in art or books and seems a bit proud
  • adjective
  • /ˈhaɪˌbraʊd/
translation icon : culto
  • Some considered his remarks a little too highbrowed for the casual book club.

Examples

  • She has a highbrowed taste in literature.

  • Sarah's highbrowed taste in literature impressed her professors.

  • The gallery attracted a highbrowed audience who were keen to discuss abstract art.

  • The highbrowed gallery featured modern art.

  • The gallery was filled with highbrowed patrons who discussed the complexities of modern art.

  • She prefers highbrowed films that challenge her thinking and stimulate intellectual conversation.

  • His highbrowed tastes often alienated him from friends who enjoyed more mainstream entertainment.

Synonyms

lofty
vshighbrowed
  • Formal
39 5.1

Showing high moral ideas or aims that seem admirable and often not realistic

centres on refined intellectual tastes rather than moral status
highbrow
vshighbrowed
10 8.1

About art or ideas that serious, educated people like

sometimes adds a hint of pretension rather than plain culture
high-minded
vshighbrowed
  • Formal
9 6.8

Someone who has strong moral beliefs and high ideals

emphasises cultured tastes and educated interests rather than moral aims
cultured
vshighbrowed
5 5.1

A person who likes and understands art, music, and books

leans more toward intellectual showiness than simple polite refinement
rarefied
vshighbrowed
  • Formal
5 9.9

Ideas that only a small group of experts understand

is similar but can be used more broadly, not only for elites
refined
vshighbrowed
  • Formal
4 4.1

Showing elegant, polite manners and good taste

tilts toward intellectual display and occasional affectation instead
highfalutin
vshighbrowed
  • Informal
4 9.3

Behaving or speaking in a fancy way to seem more important

expresses cultured intellectual taste sometimes mixed with subtle affectation
high-toned
vshighbrowed
1 8.7

Very fancy in a way that tries to impress people

can mean cultured but more often signals genuine education with slight pretension
hifalutin
vshighbrowed
  • Informal
1 9.9

Very fancy in a way that shows you think you are better than others

can indicate real cultured taste rather than only pretentious behaviour
elevated
vshighbrowed
  • Literature
6.7

High in moral, intellectual or artistic value

focuses more on cultured tastes and social education than pure nobility

Antonyms

lowbrowed
  • Offensive
8.4

Shows little interest in serious art and ideas, preferring simple popular entertainment

How Cultured

erudite
  • Formal
12 8.4
highbrowed
8.2
sophisticated
76 6.2
refined
  • Formal
4 4.1
cultured
5 5.1

Surface Forms

highbrowed positive

Morphology

highbrowed = highbrow (semi-transparent) = high + brow + ed

The derivation from 'highbrow' + '-ed' is regular, but 'highbrow' itself is a figurative compound (high + brow) whose intellectual meaning is idiomatic rather than immediately obvious to all learners.

Etymology

Highbrowed comes from the slang highbrow, made from high and brow meaning 'forehead', because people once thought a high forehead showed intelligence. So, to be highbrowed is to show very cultured, intellectual tastes, sometimes with a little pretension.