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
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in utilitarian
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2
as in materialistic
Related Words
Dissimilar Words
3
as in uncultured
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Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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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
Noun
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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Camper’s Peu Path is flexible and utilitarian, versatile (pair it with a dress, or pair it with poplin pants and a tee), and nearly octogenarian.—
Hannah Dylan Pasternak,
SELF,
11 Aug. 2025
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Definitely more so than the existing (and more utilitarian) SwellPro, which was formerly known as the Splash Drone.—
Joe Salas
August 08,
New Atlas,
8 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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There’s a growing group of modern-day families choosing to leave the materialistic world behind and become homesteaders—off the land and completely self-sufficient.—
Megan Margulies,
Outside Online,
16 July 2025
-
Jupiter showers her in materialistic clothes and jewelry, but Semele persists by pressing for answers.—
Hikmat Mohammed,
Footwear News,
9 July 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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Considering the all pervasiveness of AI viewing, total AI-abstinence is not a pragmatic approach.—
Cornelia C. Walther,
Forbes.com,
17 Aug. 2025
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That’s the evergreen charm of the Hill family: their pragmatic belief that helping out is just what neighbors do.—
Adrienne Matei,
The Atlantic,
13 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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Manipulating these obviously very greedy and avaricious [people] is still kind of beneath his skills.—
Lily Ford,
HollywoodReporter,
14 Aug. 2025
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The comedy-drama follows a Gen Z content creator who returns to her ancestral home seeking viral material, only to encounter her deceased brother’s ghost while dealing with avaricious relatives.—
Naman Ramachandran,
Variety,
14 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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And lo, the high-low concept was born: a club that would give its members permission to dip into deeply lowbrow territory, and then count upon the next choice to hoist us out of the muck.—
Vogue,
Vogue,
29 July 2025
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From books to movies to, yes, even podcasts, the hosts recommend both high- and lowbrow choices.—
Toni Fitzgerald,
Forbes.com,
12 July 2025
Adjective
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In some ways Starbucks created a high-end coffee market for the increasingly acquisitive population, but as opposed to capturing it all, the thousands and thousands of Starbucks stores on the mainland created the opportunity for others to profitably enter the market.—
John Tamny,
Forbes.com,
30 July 2025
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While Waze once again doesn’t charge anyone for usage and directions, how people use it along with when and where people go with it is surely valuable to businesses eager to meet and lead the needs of an acquisitive public.—
John Tamny,
Forbes.com,
24 July 2025
Adjective
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While the naked manicure trend has been reigning supreme among celebrities, Dua Lipa has forwent the current nail artless aesthetic for something altogether more starry and summer-ready.—
Anna Cafolla,
Vogue,
26 May 2025
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First adapted for the screen by Otto Preminger in 1958, the film starred David Niven and Jean Seberg, forever conflating the author in the public imagination with the artless allure — and iconic haircut — of Ms. Seberg.—
Sadie Stein,
New York Times,
14 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Philistine.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/philistine. Accessed 21 Aug. 2025.
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