Philistine
noun
A person who does not appreciate art, culture, or intellectual activities.
Maryann, with her lack of interest in any music other than pop, is often accused of being a philistine.
Often appears as...
- accused of being a philistine
- called a philistine
Usage tips
Disapproving
adjective
Not liking or understanding art, culture, or intellectual activities.
His philistine attitudes towards theater made him the odd one out among his artistic friends.
Often appears as...
- philistine attitudes
- philistine behavior
Usage tips
Disapproving
noun
A member of an ancient people who were enemies of the Israelites in the Bible.
In the Bible, David, the future king of Israel, famously defeated Goliath, a warrior of the Philistine people.
Usage tips
Historical, Religious
noun
A person who does not appreciate art, culture, or intellectual activities.
Maryann, with her lack of interest in any music other than pop, is often accused of being a philistine.
Often appears as...
- accused of being a philistine
- called a philistine
Usage tips
Disapproving
adjective
Not liking or understanding art, culture, or intellectual activities.
His philistine attitudes towards theater made him the odd one out among his artistic friends.
Often appears as...
- philistine attitudes
- philistine behavior
Usage tips
Disapproving
noun
A member of an ancient people who were enemies of the Israelites in the Bible.
In the Bible, David, the future king of Israel, famously defeated Goliath, a warrior of the Philistine people.
Usage tips
Historical, Religious
Definition 1 of 3
Pro Tip 1/3Negative Connotation
Used disapprovingly to criticize someone's disinterest in culture.
She was dismissed as a philistine for skipping the museum visit.
Pro Tip 2/3Subjective Judgment
What is 'cultured' can vary, so calling someone a philistine can be subjective.
You're a philistine if you don't like opera, some say, but it's a matter of taste.
Pro Tip 3/3Colloquial Use
While offensive, it's informally used among friends as light teasing.
Come on, don't be a philistine, try this exotic food with us!
Pro Tip 1/3Negative Connotation
Used disapprovingly to criticize someone's disinterest in culture.
She was dismissed as a philistine for skipping the museum visit.
Pro Tip 2/3Subjective Judgment
What is 'cultured' can vary, so calling someone a philistine can be subjective.
You're a philistine if you don't like opera, some say, but it's a matter of taste.
Pro Tip 3/3Colloquial Use
While offensive, it's informally used among friends as light teasing.
Come on, don't be a philistine, try this exotic food with us!
Pro Tip 1/3Negative Connotation
Used disapprovingly to criticize someone's disinterest in culture.
She was dismissed as a philistine for skipping the museum visit.
Pro Tip 2/3Subjective Judgment
What is 'cultured' can vary, so calling someone a philistine can be subjective.
You're a philistine if you don't like opera, some say, but it's a matter of taste.
Pro Tip 3/3Colloquial Use
While offensive, it's informally used among friends as light teasing.
Come on, don't be a philistine, try this exotic food with us!
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Video examples
The many meanings of...
was not produced with a museum setting in mind. What happens to an artwork when it's taken out of its originally intended context? Take the example of Michelangelo's Statue of David, depicting the boy hero who slew the giant philistine, Goliath, armed with only his courage and his slingshot.
Video examples
Benjamin Wallace: The...
that it sort of resembles port in a lot of ways. There were people at my table who thought it was, you know, fantastic. There were some people who were a little less impressed. And I wasn't that impressed. And I don't -- call my palate a philistine palate --
Video examples
The many meanings of...
was not produced with a museum setting in mind. What happens to an artwork when it's taken out of its originally intended context? Take the example of Michelangelo's Statue of David, depicting the boy hero who slew the giant philistine, Goliath, armed with only his courage and his slingshot.
Video examples
Benjamin Wallace: The...
that it sort of resembles port in a lot of ways. There were people at my table who thought it was, you know, fantastic. There were some people who were a little less impressed. And I wasn't that impressed. And I don't -- call my palate a philistine palate --
Example 1 of 2
Quote examples
Virginia Postrel
American Writer
A world of few choices, whether in jeans or mates, is a world in which individual differences become sources of alienation, unhappiness, even self-loathing. If no jeans fit, you'll feel uncomfortable or inferior. If no housing developments reflect your taste for unique architecture, you'll write screeds against philistine mass culture.
Quote examples
Orson Welles
American Actor
Everything about me is a contradiction, and so is everything about everybody else. We are made out of oppositions; we live between two poles. There's a philistine and an aesthete in all of us, and a murderer and a saint. You don't reconcile the poles. You just recognize them.
Quote examples
Felicity Huffman
American Actress
It's only because I feel like such a philistine spending all that time in hair and makeup that I started to knit. I used to spend that time studying Italian and French. Then after I had two kids, my brain turned to mush and I took up knitting.
Quote examples
Rob Liefeld
American Writer
Long before it was 'Raided' and 'Lost' with Indiana Jones, the Ark of the Covenant was originally stolen from the Israelites by The Philistines; The Ark of the Covenant was the nuclear bomb of its age: when activated, it was devastating.
Quote examples
Germaine Greer
Australian Activist
It's absolutely philistine not to recognize what a great book 'An American Dream' is. Norman Mailer is his own worst enemy, and if you don't catch him in a defensive position, he'll admit it. I'd really like to help that man.
Quote examples
Colin Firth
British Actor
The English people, a lot of them, would not be able to understand a word of spoken Shakespeare. There are people who do and I'm not denying they exist. But it's a far more philistine country than people think.
Quote examples
Anthony Hopkins
Welsh Actor
I do admire Judi Dench and Sir Ian McKellen, but I'm a philistine. I like the good life too much; I'm not good at going on stage night after night and on wet Wednesday afternoons.
Quote examples
V. S. Naipaul
Trinidadian Novelist
Trinidad may seem complex, but to anyone who knows it, it is a simple, colonial, philistine society.
Quote examples
Louis Dudek
Canadian Poet
The philistine provides the best definition of art. Anything that makes him rage is first class.
Quote examples
Vladimir Nabokov
American Novelist
Nothing is more exhilarating than philistine vulgarity.
Quote examples
Virginia Postrel
American Writer
A world of few choices, whether in jeans or mates, is a world in which individual differences become sources of alienation, unhappiness, even self-loathing. If no jeans fit, you'll feel uncomfortable or inferior. If no housing developments reflect your taste for unique architecture, you'll write screeds against philistine mass culture.
Quote examples
Orson Welles
American Actor
Everything about me is a contradiction, and so is everything about everybody else. We are made out of oppositions; we live between two poles. There's a philistine and an aesthete in all of us, and a murderer and a saint. You don't reconcile the poles. You just recognize them.
Quote examples
Felicity Huffman
American Actress
It's only because I feel like such a philistine spending all that time in hair and makeup that I started to knit. I used to spend that time studying Italian and French. Then after I had two kids, my brain turned to mush and I took up knitting.
Quote examples
Rob Liefeld
American Writer
Long before it was 'Raided' and 'Lost' with Indiana Jones, the Ark of the Covenant was originally stolen from the Israelites by The Philistines; The Ark of the Covenant was the nuclear bomb of its age: when activated, it was devastating.
Quote examples
Germaine Greer
Australian Activist
It's absolutely philistine not to recognize what a great book 'An American Dream' is. Norman Mailer is his own worst enemy, and if you don't catch him in a defensive position, he'll admit it. I'd really like to help that man.
Quote examples
Colin Firth
British Actor
The English people, a lot of them, would not be able to understand a word of spoken Shakespeare. There are people who do and I'm not denying they exist. But it's a far more philistine country than people think.
Quote examples
Anthony Hopkins
Welsh Actor
I do admire Judi Dench and Sir Ian McKellen, but I'm a philistine. I like the good life too much; I'm not good at going on stage night after night and on wet Wednesday afternoons.
Quote examples
V. S. Naipaul
Trinidadian Novelist
Trinidad may seem complex, but to anyone who knows it, it is a simple, colonial, philistine society.
Quote examples
Louis Dudek
Canadian Poet
The philistine provides the best definition of art. Anything that makes him rage is first class.
Quote examples
Vladimir Nabokov
American Novelist
Nothing is more exhilarating than philistine vulgarity.
Example 1 of 10
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