middlebrow
UK[ˈmɪd.l.braʊ]US[ˈmɪd.l.braʊ]
adj
having tastes and interests that are not very intellectual or very simple, but somewhere in between; considered to be conventional and not very sophisticated.
n
a person who has middlebrow tastes and interests.
Morpheme Breakdown
middle
brow
middle
brow
Etymology
the term 'middlebrow' is a 20th-century formation, created by analogy with the earlier cultural classifications 'highbrow' and 'lowbrow'. 'brow', referring to the forehead, had long been associated with intellect and character in english idiom. the compound 'highbrow' (early 1900s) denoted intellectual or aesthetic superiority, while 'lowbrow' signified a lack of sophistication. 'middlebrow' emerged in the 1920s-30s to fill the lexical gap, describing the cultural middle ground—tastes perceived as neither elite nor vulgar, but respectable and conventional. it carries a frequently pejorative connotation, implying a pretension to high culture without the requisite depth or originality.
Analysis
Structure: middle + brow
- middle (old english): from 'middel', meaning the central point or part. in this compound, it denotes a position between two extremes.
- brow (old english): from 'brū', meaning eyebrow or forehead. here, it is used metaphorically to represent intellect, taste, or cultural standing (as in 'highbrow' and 'lowbrow').
Examples
the film was criticized as middlebrow entertainment, appealing to a broad audience but lacking artistic ambition.
he dismissed the popular book club selection as typical middlebrow fare.
the magazine caters to a middlebrow readership with its mix of simplified current affairs and lifestyle features.