Advertisement
🇫🇷French Source WordCode: FR

philistin

Pronunciation / Transliteration: /fi.lis.tɛ̃/

🇬🇧 Direct English Meaning:
Philistine/ˈfɪl.ɪ.staɪn/
nounadjectiveCEFR C2 (Proficient)Top #15400 frequency
Full Thesaurus
🇫🇷 Example Sentence in French:

"Il est un vrai philistin en matière de peinture moderne."

Comprehensive Definitions & Senses

2 senses
As noun
  1. 1

    A person who is hostile or indifferent to culture, the arts, and intellectual pursuits.

    "He dismissed modern abstract art as complete nonsense, proving himself to be a total philistine."
As adjective
  1. 1

    Characteristic of or relating to a person lacking in culture and refinement.

    "The city council's philistine decision to demolish the historic theater caused public outrage."
Advertisement

Thesaurus & Semantic Spectrum

Antonyms & Contrasting Words (1)

Linguistic Origin & Historical Etymology

Derived from the ancient biblical Philistines, the term entered European languages via Late Latin and German (Philister) in the 17th century. University students in Germany originally used it to denote townspeople as opposed to academic members, likening them to uncultured outsiders, which evolved into its modern meaning of a person hostile to culture and the arts.

Quick Vocabulary Retention Check

Which of the following is the closest synonym for "Philistine"?

Advertisement
Thesaurus & Synonyms Graph

Explore Nuanced Synonyms for "Philistine"

Discover exact matches, context-specific alternatives, and antonyms with intensity ratings in the VocabDictionary Thesaurus.

View "Philistine" Synonym Map
Advertisement