lowbrow
/ˈloʊbɹaʊ/
"lowbrow" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“lowbrow” is uncommon English (frequency #76,077 among 2,297 “L” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #76,077
- frequency rank, English
- 2,297
- “L” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Unsophisticated, not intended for an audience of intelligence, education or culture.
Corpus desk
Index EN-lowbrow · lowbrow · English
lowbrow · rank #76,077 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #76,077
- LEN-LONG 7 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 2,297
- PHOTO-FINISH loverboy
Nearest frequency peer: loverboy (-1 rank slots)
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
Frequency neighbourhood for “lowbrow”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- loverboy
loverboy
23,925 corpus weight
- lowbrow
lowbrow
23,924 corpus weight
- Lowenthal
Lowenthal
23,923 corpus weight
- luckless
luckless
23,922 corpus weight
- Lujan
Lujan
23,921 corpus weight
- macha
macha
23,919 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “lowbrow” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | lowbrow |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈloʊbɹaʊ/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #76,077 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “lowbrow” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
lowbrow is uncommon English at frequency #76,077 among 2,297 “L” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed /ˈloʊbɹaʊ/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Unsophisticated, not intended for an audience of intelligence, education or culture.".
Zero misspellings are on record for lowbrow in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: A bahuvrihi compound of low + brow. An Americanism whose first use appears c. 1902. Refers to the (by that time discredited) pseudoscience of phrenology, which suggested that a person of low intelligence and sophistication would possess a lower brow-line th… The correct English form is lowbrow, spelled L-O-W-B-R-O-W.
Definition
- 1Unsophisticated, not intended for an audience of intelligence, education or culture.
Recorded use
Wiktionary exampleThese source excerpts show how lowbrow appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
The Three Stooges are known for their lowbrow slapstick humor consisting of foolish action for the masses.
Etymology
A bahuvrihi compound of low + brow. An Americanism whose first use appears c. 1902. Refers to the (by that time discredited) pseudoscience of phrenology, which suggested that a person of low intelligence and sophistication would possess a lower brow-line than someone of greater 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.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 3, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "lowbrow", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
What to do next
You've looked up "lowbrow". Here's where to go from here.
- Usage frequency rank #76,077 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
- Browse more English words in the "L" letter cohort. L–Z browse
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PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.
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.