as in materialist
a person who is chiefly interested in material comfort and is hostile or indifferent to art and culture
the town's philistines who think that spending on the arts is a waste of taxpayers' money
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in utilitarian
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in materialistic
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in uncultured
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of philistine
Barrymore Laurence Scherer, WSJ, 3 Aug. 2022
There was no reason — other than bankrupt ideology and blinkered philistine pig-ignorance — not to go hog-wild with stimulus, say, $2 trillion for starters.
—Ryan Cooper, The Week, 10 Jan. 2022
Adjective
In pre-Revolutionary Russia some critics derided his compositions as bourgeois work aimed at philistine audiences.
—Barrymore Laurence Scherer, WSJ, 3 Aug. 2022
There was no reason — other than bankrupt ideology and blinkered philistine pig-ignorance — not to go hog-wild with stimulus, say, $2 trillion for starters.
—Ryan Cooper, The Week, 10 Jan. 2022
Recent Examples of Synonyms for philistine
Adjective
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The Harp And The Shovel Two utilitarian images, both useful in their own ways, ready to be employed literally or figuratively.—
David Phelan,
Forbes,
8 Mar. 2025
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According to Alexa Drees Walker, director of design centers at Drees Homes, purely utilitarian appliances are out and top-of-the-line, statement-making appliances are in.—
Maria Sabella,
Better Homes & Gardens,
7 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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Even Lochlan and Piper, who think of themselves as more enlightened than their loutish brother and materialistic parents, have a lot of Victoria in them.—
Noel Murray,
New York Times,
24 Feb. 2025
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Those impossible beauty standards, the constant self-doubt, unhealthy coping mechanisms, and materialistic desires are some of the other examples of what people say goodbye to in their thirties.—
Yaakov Katz,
Newsweek,
12 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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For their part, the Russians considered the Mizrahim—indeed, most Israelis—loud, uncultured boors.—
Judith Shulevitz,
The Atlantic,
5 Oct. 2024
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Inserting two distinct forms of the gene into clusters of uncultured cells, the team discovered that the form of NOVA1 found in H. neanderthalensis created bumpier blobs of brain tissue when cultured, while the form of NOVA1 found in H. sapiens created smooth, spherical clumps.—
Sam Walters,
Discover Magazine,
1 Mar. 2023
Adjective
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One faction is taking a pragmatic approach that appeals to voters in the middle, while others want more action, such as protests and interruptions like U.S. Rep. Al Green's (D-Texas) at the president's joint address to Congress.—
Mike Allen,
Axios,
14 Mar. 2025
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This state-federal split reflects a pragmatic approach designed to maintain market flexibility while ensuring sufficient regulatory oversight at the federal level.—
Tonya M. Evans,
Forbes,
13 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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This nation state, my home, is built on a quagmire of lies sold to the young as truths; sold to the insecure as truths; sold by the avaricious, the power-hungry, the conceited, the overwhelmingly white and male.—
Christine Winter,
Artforum,
1 Mar. 2025
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Pearce plays Van Buren as hungry and avaricious even in his kinder moments, a man of immense wealth whose primary desire is to own more and more.—
David Sims,
The Atlantic,
10 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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The song is a cheeky touch, but also a nod to Daryle’s milieu: a lowbrow America of swamp tours, chain motels, and motorcycle shops.—
Jeremy Lybarger,
Artforum,
1 Feb. 2025
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What Should the New Name Be? Clearly, the goal was a name that felt neither too highbrow nor too lowbrow, as restaurants have been trending toward an unstuffy seriousness for decades.—
Jesse David Fox,
Vulture,
10 July 2024
Adjective
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Not only is China’s population (1.4 billion) enormous, that same population is increasingly acquisitive.—
John Tamny,
Forbes,
13 Mar. 2025
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In a year of severe economic headwinds, being shrewdly acquisitive with its majority stakes paid off for STV, which runs a channels business, digital biz and the STV Studios productions arm.—
Max Goldbart,
Deadline,
11 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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All that’s there is an artless effort to provoke outrage — Tony Hinchcliffe with the world’s strongest Boston accent.—
Joe Berkowitz,
Vulture,
10 Nov. 2024
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The untenable toxicity of this artless warfare has led some researchers to rethink the ancient script—and flip it: know yourself, know your enemy.—
Beth Mole,
Ars Technica,
15 July 2024
Cite this Entry
“Philistine.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/philistine. Accessed 25 Mar. 2025.
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