highbrows
Lovers of refinement
Highbrows are people with refined intellectual or cultural tastes—devotees of serious literature, classical music, art films, and the like.
The term often carries a hint of snobbery or pretension: The highbrows dismissed the blockbuster as mindless entertainment.
Contrasts with lowbrows and middlebrows in cultural commentary.
Those claiming superiority
- intellectualsPeople of scholarly pursuits
- academicsProfessional researchers and teachers
- scholarsExperts in a field
- literatiEducated, cultured class
intelligentsia · connoisseurs · aesthetes · cognoscenti · erudites · pedants · savants · mandarins
Superior select group
- snobberyPretentious social superiority
- pretensionUnwarranted claim to merit
- exclusivityState of being limited
- sophisticationCultured elegance and complexity
refinement · cultivation · discernment · superiority · condescension · aloofness · affectation · uppity
Theatrical art combining song
- balletClassical dance on pointe
- symphonyExtended composition for orchestra
- classicalOf ancient Greece/Rome
- avant-gardeInnovative cultural pioneers
galleries · museums · literature · poetry · theater · art-house · arthouse · philharmonic
elitists
Those claiming superiority
- intellectualsPeople of scholarly pursuits
- academicsProfessional researchers and teachers
- scholarsExperts in a field
literati · intelligentsia · connoisseurs · aesthetes · cognoscenti · erudites · pedants · savants · mandarins · bluestockings
elite
Superior select group
- snobberyPretentious social superiority
- pretensionUnwarranted claim to merit
- exclusivityState of being limited
sophistication · refinement · cultivation · discernment · superiority · condescension · aloofness · affectation · uppity · pomposity
opera
Theatrical art combining song
- balletClassical dance on pointe
- symphonyExtended composition for orchestra
- classicalOf ancient Greece/Rome
avant-garde · galleries · museums · literature · poetry · theater · art-house · arthouse · philharmonic · modernism
- intelligentsiaintellectuals, professors, intelligentsia, academics, philosophers
highbrowslowbrows
Uncultured people
philistines · plebeians · yahoos · boors · vulgarians
highbrowslowbrows
Uncultured people
regular folks · plain folks · salt of the earth · common people · everyman