(sometimes initial capital letter) a person who is lacking in or hostile or smugly indifferent to cultural values, intellectual pursuits, aesthetic refinement, etc., or is contentedly commonplace in ideas and tastes. (initial capital letter) a native or inhabitant of ancient Philistia.

What does philistine mean?

a : a person who is guided by materialism and is usually disdainful of intellectual or artistic values. b : one uninformed in a special area of knowledge. Philistine. adjective.

Is philistine a Hebrew word?

Though the primary source of information about the Philistines is the Hebrew Bible, they are first attested to in reliefs at the Temple of Ramses III at Medinet Habu, in which they are called Peleset (accepted as cognate with Hebrew Peleshet); the parallel Assyrian term is Palastu, Pilišti, or Pilistu.