culture vulture

American  

noun

Slang.

1. a person with an excessive or pretentious interest in the arts.

---

culture vulture British  

noun

1. informal a person considered to be excessively, and often pretentiously, interested in the arts

---

culture vulture Idioms  

1. An individual with a consuming or excessive interest in the arts. For example, A relentless culture vulture, she dragged her children to every museum in town. This slangy term may have been originated by Ogden Nash, who wrote: “There is a vulture Who circles above The carcass of culture” (Free Wheeling, 1931). [1940s]

---

Etymology

Origin of culture vulture

First recorded in 1945–50

Example Sentences

As someone who was bitterly labelled as a "culture vulture" by a British grime artist in 2019, the Canadian certainly got the opportunity to set the record straight over the weekend.

From BBC • Jul. 12, 2025

"Sinners" is culture vulture bait, laden with multiple meanings and dog-eared history pages, and who can resist a puzzle?

From Salon • May 2, 2025

While he readily concedes that he is no culture vulture himself, Bloomberg sees the arts as an important driver of economic development, which guided his approach to cultural capital projects as mayor.

From New York Times • Jun. 7, 2023

Supreme Court and lifelong culture vulture, was a Barbra Streisand fan.

From Washington Post • Feb. 22, 2023

Unleash your inner culture vulture at one of these arts-immersive hotels.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 28, 2019