acculturate

[uh-kuhl-chuh-reyt]

verb (used with or without object)

acculturated, acculturating 

1. to alter by acculturation, through sharing and learning the cultural traits or social patterns of another group: Older computer users are hesitant to acculturate to social media communities.

   The families in my neighborhood are pretty acculturated, but they still celebrate holidays like their grandparents used to in Cuba.

   Older computer users are hesitant to acculturate to social media communities.

acculturate

/ əˈkʌltʃəˌreɪt /

verb

1. (of a cultural or social group) to assimilate the cultural traits of another group

Other Word Forms

• acculturative adjective
• nonacculturated adjective
• unacculturated adjective
• acculturation noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of acculturate¹

First recorded in 1930–35; back formation from acculturation

Word History and Origins

Origin of acculturate¹

C20: from _ad- + _culture + _-ate ¹

Example Sentences

He added: "Judges are acculturated into a condition where the Constitution has something to say about everything. It rarely has anything to say about modern problems."

From Salon

Although she was buoyed to leave a union filled with anger and loneliness, she now entered single parenthood, and discovered that no arrangement of life contains the perfection she’d long been acculturated to expect.

From Los Angeles Times

This included a focus on whether they had become “Americanized” or “acculturated” with the result that the tribes’ main interest in establishing treaty rights was economic.

From Seattle Times

Some Japanese women are also acculturated to cover their mouths when eating or laughing.

From New York Times

But most Chinese Americans ultimately became fully acculturated, she said, although she saw limits to that process.

From New York Times