“Philistinism” (FIL-uh-stee-niz-um) refers to people who are uncultured or materialistic. The word is derived from the name of an ancient Aegean tribe – enemies of the Israelites in the Old Testament.
Example (as used by Sarah Churchwell in a New York Times review of My Sister, My Love, by Joyce Carol Oates): “We are in a moral system that places philistinism on the same spectrum with child abuse and murder.”
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