cultural
Americanadjective
adjective
-
of or relating to artistic or social pursuits or events considered to be valuable or enlightened
-
of or relating to a culture or civilization
-
(of certain varieties of plant) obtained by specialized breeding
Other Word Forms
- anticultural adjective
- anticulturally adverb
- culturally adverb
- de-cultural adjective
- noncultural adjective
- nonculturally adverb
- precultural adjective
- preculturally adverb
- pseudocultural adjective
- pseudoculturally adverb
- transcultural adjective
- transculturally adverb
Etymology
Origin of cultural
Explanation
The adjective cultural comes from the noun "culture" but has several, subtly different meanings, depending on context. The chief meaning is anything having to do human intellectual or creative output. The word cultural is often used as a synonym for "ethnic," as in, "cultural diversity," which means a variety of people. But it also means having to do with the arts and creativity. When you move, you'll want to move somewhere with a vibrant cultural life—lots of museums, libraries, and concert halls. In the middle is a term like "cultural anthropology," which is the study of a population's work, arts, lifestyles, and ways of interacting.
Vocabulary lists containing cultural
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Douglas Tirola’s archival documentary highlights Leonard Bernstein as a conductor-composer as well as a celebrity, cultural ambassador and activist.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 23, 2026
Klein, a three-time finalist for the National Book Critics Circle’s Nona Balakian Citation for Excellence in Reviewing, is a cultural reporter and critic in Philadelphia.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 22, 2026
He forced a cultural rewrite that Microsoft veterans still talk about.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 22, 2026
Anya Meksin, deputy director of parent advocacy group Schools Beyond Screens, which has been pushing for the measures, said the move marks "a big cultural shift into how schools approach technology".
From BBC • Apr. 22, 2026
It’s likely that the cultural centre of Göbekli Tepe was somehow connected to the initial domestication of wheat by humankind and of humankind by wheat.
From "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
