philistine
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈfɪlɪstaɪn/
ipa: /ˈfɪlɪˌstaɪn/
ipa: /-lə-/
ipa: /-stin/
ipa: /fɪˈlɪstin/
Forms: form: more philistine
form: most philistine
form: Philistine
Etymology: The noun is derived from Philistine, influenced by philister, Philister (“(historical) in German universities: person not associated with the university; person who lacks appreciation of or is antagonistic towards art or culture”), from German Philister (“person from ancient Philistia; (figurative, dated) person not associated with a university; (figurative) person who lacks appreciation of or is antagonistic towards art or culture”), from Late Latin Philistaeus, Philisteus (compare Philistinus and see further at Philistine) + German -er (suffix forming nouns indicating an inhabitant of a place, or a person originating from a place). The figurative senses of the German word are often said to have derived from a 1693 sermon by the ecclesiastical superintendent Georg Heinrich Götze (1667–1728) on the passage “Philister über dir, Simson!” (“The Philistines are upon you, Samson!”; Judges 16:9, 12, 14, and 20) at the funeral of a student from the University of Jena in Jena, Thuringia, Germany, who had died as the result of a town and gown dispute (that is, one between the townspeople and university students), but the Oxford English Dictionary notes that the word was already used in Jena in these senses in 1687.
The adjective is derived from the noun.
The words philister and philistine were introduced into English by the British author Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) and greatly popularized by the English poet and cultural critic Matthew Arnold (1822–1888), particularly in essays first published in The Cornhill Magazine between 1867 and 1868 which were collected into a book entitled Culture and Anarchy (1869).
Senses: examples: text: [Robert] Walpole, moreover, left England not only more corrupt than he found it, but crasser and more Philistine.
ref: 1948 September 13, “18th Century England”, in Henry R[obinson] Luce, editor, Life, volume 25, number 11, Chicago, Ill.; New York, N.Y.: Time Inc., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 124:
text: Nothing is more exhilarating than philistine vulgarity. But in regard to philistine vulgarity there is no intrinsic difference between Palearctic manners and Nearctic manners.
ref: 1956 December 12, Vladimir Nabokov, “On a Book Entitled Lolita”, in Lolita, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: G[eorge] P[almer] Putnam’s Sons, published August 1958, →OCLC, page 317:
text: There is a satisfying, down-to-earth humanness about him, a kind of philistine vigor which helps us to see things in their proper proportions. He is the voice of the philistine in all of us.
ref: 1963, Hugh McLean, “Introduction”, in Mikhail Zoshchenko, translated by Maria Gordon and Hugh McLean, Nervous People and Other Satires (A Midland Book; MB-192), Bloomington; Indianapolis, Ind.: Indiana University Press, published 1975, →ISBN, page xiv:
text: Visitors to the area are strongly recommended to have a look around the castle, for even the most Philistine of wild water canoeists cannot fail to be impressed by the enormous armoury, fine paintings and wonderful furnishings that seem to outclass all other museums and castles in the North East.
ref: 1991, Nick Doll, Canoeist’s Guide to the North East […], Milnthorpe, Cumbria: Cicerone Press, →ISBN, page 25:
text: Miles was taken seriously by the great dames of Manhattan society and was not scorned by even the most Philistine of their husbands.
ref: 2002, Louis Auchincloss, “The Heiress”, in Manhattan Monologues, New York, N.Y.: Houghton Mifflin Company, →ISBN, page 33:
synonyms: word: heathen
word: philistinic
word: philistinish
glosses: Ignorant or uneducated; specifically, lacking appreciation for or antagonistic towards art or culture, and having pedestrian tastes.