ANTI-INTELLECTUAL Synonyms: 44 Similar and Opposite Words

anti-intellectual 1 of 2

adjective

Definition of anti-intellectual

as in nonintellectual

Related Words

Relevance

Dissimilar Words

anti-intellectual

2 of 2

noun

as in philistine

Related Words

Dissimilar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of anti-intellectual

Adjective

This notion when applied to classrooms, teachers, and students is anti-educational and anti-intellectual. — Chicago Tribune, 7 June 2026 If that — and a title font that echoes Woody Allen’s go-to choice of white Windsor Light Condensed over a black background — sets anti-intellectual alarm bells ringing, then this might not be the film for you. — Damon Wise, Deadline, 29 Aug. 2025 Trump proved to be a vexing ideological lodestar—aggressively anti-intellectual in his attitudes and consistently inconsistent in his views. — Jason Zengerle, New Yorker, 24 Jan. 2026 Conservative faculty are almost impossible to find at Harvard, and that absence has created a warped, often anti-intellectual, climate on campus. — Samuel J. Abrams, National Review, 19 July 2025 Its popularity is improbable by virtue of its unapologetic intellectualism, increasingly alien in a highly anti-intellectual era. — Nicholas Quah, Vulture, 15 Jan. 2026 In the year 2505, protagonist Joe Bauers wakes up from hibernation to discover an America dominated by corporations and led by profoundly anti-science and anti-intellectual politicians. — Literary Hub, 7 Jan. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for anti-intellectual

Adjective

Such thumbnail indictments of the nonintellectual masses seemed to stem from Hofstadter’s own mounting sense of political and cultural homelessness in the postwar world.

— Chris Lehmann, The New Republic, 16 Apr. 2020
George, meanwhile, grew up in a cheerfully nonintellectual and inclusive household that celebrated Christmas and just about anything involving their son, even Lizzie.

— Ellen Emry Heltzel, The Seattle Times, 3 Sep. 2017

Definition of nonintellectual

Noun

Embracing a visual vocabulary of the lowbrow and the rudimentary is a tried-and-true method of rebelling against a culture that feels vapid or corporatized.

— Kyle Chayka, New Yorker, 6 May 2026
Executives at NBCUniversal frame Bravo as a brand that represents a particular type of lowbrow-highbrow reality TV, and that even if the channel vanished, the brand could live on.

— Alex Weprin, HollywoodReporter, 9 Jan. 2026

Definition of lowbrow

Adjective

The report says there's been progress, but minorities, along with people who are poor and uneducated, still face higher death rates.

— Stephanie Stahl, CBS News, 24 June 2026
The hillbilly is portrayed as ignorant, uneducated, and unsophisticated; they are often depicted as being unkempt in appearance, perhaps noticeably dirty or walking around barefoot.

— Jordana Rosenfeld, Encyclopedia Britannica, 12 June 2026

Definition of uneducated

Adjective

Let’s hope that George Santayana’s warning to those ignorant of history about the past repeating itself makes an exception for our present Defense Department.

— Voice of the People, New York Daily News, 28 June 2026
And then there are amateur collectors like me, who might not know ironstone from porcelain, but whose last day on earth could be spent touching old objects in ignorant bliss.

— Jessica Sulima, Condé Nast Traveler, 28 June 2026

Definition of ignorant

Cite this Entry

Style

“Anti-intellectual.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/anti-intellectual. Accessed 9 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of anti-intellectual

adjective

noun

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

tacit

Popular in Grammar & Usage

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)

Popular in Wordplay

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

One-Word Oxymorons: Bittersweet, Spendthrift, and More

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

Popular

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

Games & Quizzes