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
Armond White, National Review, 3 Jan. 2025
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
Adjective
The Childhood of a Leader (titled after a Sartre short story), their style indicated a possible philistine route.
—Armond White, National Review, 3 Jan. 2025
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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Cameras on rugged devices are usually meant for utilitarian purposes, such as recording progress at a work site, and are not meant to replace your standalone camera.—
PC Magazine,
PC Magazine,
11 Apr. 2025
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Like Beethoven, Tharp creates a utilitarian theme as a jumping-off point for mostly jovial dalliances between gaggles of dancers and a rather pleasant power struggle between the dancers, pianist Vladimir Rumyantsev, who plays live from the orchestra pit — and the audience.—
Lauren Warnecke,
Chicago Tribune,
11 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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Saxon is all about getting off, and Piper is renouncing the materialistic.—
Mikey O'Connell,
HollywoodReporter,
2 Apr. 2025
-
In the finale, which aired on HBO on Sunday evening, fans see the other Ratliff siblings find self-realization, whether mildly profound (Saxon unearthed his more spiritual side and at least an inkling of a soul) or materialistic (Piper can’t settle for low thread count or non-organic food).—
Seija Rankin,
HollywoodReporter,
8 Apr. 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
-
Harvard's response has been both principled and pragmatic.—
Thomas G. Moukawsher,
MSNBC Newsweek,
17 Apr. 2025
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But trying to tell the wide-eyed students that trees are soulless breaks Janine’s determination to remain pragmatic.—
Ile-Ife Okantah,
Vulture,
17 Apr. 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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There are few modern actors as purely watchable as Walton Goggins, a performer who is capable of both relishing in lowbrow material and elevating it with effortless charm.—
Daniel Dockery,
Vulture,
6 Apr. 2025
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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
Adjective
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Like other acquisitive companies, the integration of technology was sub-optimal.—
Peter High,
Forbes.com,
30 Mar. 2025
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Infinite Reality, which is building a headquarters in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, was founded in 2019 and has been acquisitive in recent months, buying companies such as the Drone Racing League, Landvault and virtual reality retail brand Obsess.—
Kif Leswing,
CNBC,
25 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 effort of analyzing this video, a piece of artless misinformation, was beneath Abu Hamdan, who has dedicated himself to unveiling the violence of the world through the medium of sound.—
Doreen St. Félix,
The New Yorker,
15 July 2024
Cite this Entry
“Philistine.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/philistine. Accessed 22 Apr. 2025.
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