highbrow
"highbrow" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“highbrow” is uncommon English (frequency #58,075 among 23,837 “H” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #58,075
- frequency rank, English
- 23,837
- “H” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Intellectually stimulating, highly cultured, sophisticated.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | highbrow |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #58,075 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “highbrow” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
highbrow is uncommon English at frequency #58,075 among 23,837 “H” headwords, classed as anadjective. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Intellectually stimulating, highly cultured, sophisticated.".
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for highbrow, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Etymologically, the entry records: A compound of the words high + brow, first recorded usage in 1875. Referring to the (by that time discredited) science of phrenology, which suggested that a person of intelligence and sophistication would possess a higher brow-line than someone of lesser in… The correct English form is highbrow, spelled H-I-G-H-B-R-O-W.
Definition
- 1Intellectually stimulating, highly cultured, sophisticated.
Etymology
A compound of the words high + brow, first recorded usage in 1875. Referring to the (by that time discredited) science of phrenology, which suggested that a person of intelligence and sophistication would possess a higher brow-line than someone of lesser intelligence and sophistication.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “highbrow”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is H-I-G-H-B-R-O-W - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Other uncommon English words near this rank
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.