an old man of morality (Synonyms: ordinary, one-typed, monotonous, gray) All his life a philistine envies the romantic and that is why he does not like him as a matter of fact Extreme degrees of dislike are possible Example: benighted philistines burnt G Bruno (that's why he has been given the title of a honorable PM member)
A person deficient in liberal culture and refinement; one without appreciation of the nobler aspirations and sentiments of humanity; one whose scope is limited to selfish and material interests
n One whose mind is the creature of its environment, following the fashion in thought, feeling and sentiment He is sometimes learned, frequently prosperous, commonly clean and always solemn
a member of an Aegean people who settled ancient philistia around the 12th century BC a person who is uninterested in intellectual pursuits of or relatin to ancient Philistia or the the culture of the Philistines
a member of an Aegean people who settled ancient philistia around the 12th century BC
disapproval You can use philistine to describe people or organizations who you think do not care about or understand the value of good art, music, or literature. a philistine government that allowed the arts to decline. in the Bible, a member of a race of people who lived in Palestine, and who were the enemies of the Israelites. someone who does not like or understand art, literature, music etc (Philistine; because the Philistines were thought by the Israelites in the Bible to be uncivilized people). Member of a group of Aegean origin that settled on the southern coast of Palestine. The Philistines first settled the region during the 12th century BC, about the time the Israelites arrived. They lived in five cities (the Pentapolis) that together made up Philistia, from which the Greeks derived the name Palestine. They first fought the Israelites in the 11th century BC. In the 10th century BC they were defeated by the Israelite king David. They were later ruled by Assyria, Egypt, Babylonia, Persia, Greece, and Rome. The group appears prominently in the Old Testament from which much of the information about them is derived though they left no written records of their own. It is from these many and coloured biblical references that the term assumes its modern significance in the English language
disapproval If you call someone a philistine, you mean that they do not care about or understand good art, music, or literature, and do not think that they are important