lowbrow

Etymology

A bahuvrihi compound of low + brow, Americanism, circa 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.

adj

1. Unsophisticated, not intended for an audience of intelligence, education or culture.
   The Three Stooges are known for their lowbrow slapstick humor consisting of foolish action for the masses.

noun

1. (countable) Someone or something of low education or culture.
2. (uncountable, art) An underground populist visual art movement that arose in the Los Angeles area in the late 1960s, inspired by comics, punk music, graffiti, etc.