egghead/high brow:

(plural: ‘eggheads‘; pronunciation: ‘egg…head’)

These expressions, egghead and highbrow, are often used with a negative connotation (sense), and also to make fun of an educated person.

a very highly educated person;

an educated person who likes studying all the time,

two eggheads, highly qualified university scholars

e.g.

Parson, having two post-graduate degrees and being the head of philosophy department, feels very uncomfortable when people call him an egghead.

Kate is the egghead of our gang of friends and you can find her any time sitting away from others with a book in her hand and a pair of reading glasses on her nose!

There is no dearth for eggheads in our university, but the only problem is no egghead uses his egghead to solve any practical problem, however simple or complicated the problem may be!

Most parents feel proud to say that their children are eggheads and they are expecting them to be very successful in life; however, such people forget the fact that the most successful people in the world never read a whole book in their life.

As most of his articles are read with great admiration, John’s sister boasts that her brother is a highbrow whose writings are not understood by less educated lowbrow people!

a typical egghead, reading a book

For an interesting article about egghead, please click here, for an article on a popular egghead, please click here, for a health article about eating egg whites in which ‘you’ are called an egghead, please click here, for an article about a TV programme called ‘eggheads’, please click here and for an article that explains this word, please click here. And for an article that shows us how we come across ‘highbrow’ in our day to day readings, please click here.
Note: ‘Highbrow’, with ‘lowbrow’ as its opposite word in meaning, is more commonly used as an adjective to refer to something or someone that is high above the normal standards or average standards , especially in the field of literature, music, art, etc. e.g. ‘highbrow art’, ‘highbrow literature’, ‘highbrow society’, etc.

About the Author:BC Kumar

BC Kumar, an English Language Teacher, taught in numerous countries including Ethiopia, Oman and India, shares his knowledge and passion for the English Language. Disclaimer: This is a free educational website and all content has been compiled by the author. All copyrights to images and videos belong to their respective owners.

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