philistine
noun (& adjective)

- a person who is hostile or indifferent to culture and the arts

- a person who refuses to see the beauty or the value of art or culture

- a person who is guided by materialism and is usually disdainful of intellectual or artistic values

Oxford Languages / The Cambridge Dictionary / Merriam-Webster

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WORD ORIGIN

The word "philistine" has an interesting etymology. It originally referred to a people who lived in the ancient Philistine city-states along the eastern Mediterranean coast, in what is now modern-day Israel and the Gaza Strip. The Philistines are most famously known as one of the primary antagonists in the biblical story of David and Goliath.

Over time, the term "Philistine" began to take on a different connotation. In the 17th century, it started to be used metaphorically to describe people who were perceived as uncultured, uneducated, or lacking in appreciation for the arts and intellectual pursuits. This negative sense likely arose from a perception of the ancient Philistines as uncivilized or hostile to the Hebrews in biblical narratives.

In this metaphorical sense, a "philistine" refers to someone who is indifferent or hostile to culture, the arts, or intellectual endeavors. It suggests an interest in materialism and practicality rather than matters of human creativity, the arts, and culture. This sense of cultural ignorance or insensitivity remains in common usage today.

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THE POWER OF NOT-KNOWING

- "Real knowledge is to know the extent of one's ignorance." - Confucius

- "The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance; it is the illusion of knowledge." - Stephen Hawking

- "The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education." - Albert Einstein

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SYNONYMS

aesthetic ignoramus, all brawn and no brains, anti-intellectual, barbaric, blind as a bat, boorish, brain in neutral, clueless, crass, crude, culturally unaware, dim as a 5-watt bulb, dumb as a box of rocks, dumb as a doorknob (a fencepost, a post), ignoramus, knows diddly-squat, living in a bubble, loutish, lowbrow, missing a few cards (a few screws), neanderthal, PHILISTINE, pleb, plebeian, simpleton, tasteless, thick as a brick (as mud, as two planks), thin on brains, uncivilized, uneducated, unenlightened, unimaginative, uninformed, unsophisticated, vulgar

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SMUGGLE OWAD into a conversation, say something like:

“Despite being surrounded by art and culture, PHILISTINES have no interest in the beauty around them.”

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THANKS to Florian for suggesting today’s word.

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