acculturate

American  

[uh-kuhl-chuh-reyt] / əˈkʌl tʃəˌreɪt /

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.

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acculturate British  

/ əˈkʌltʃəˌreɪt /

verb

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

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Other Word Forms

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

Etymology

Origin of acculturate

First recorded in 1930–35; back formation from acculturation

Example Sentences

But, he warns, “those protective mechanisms weaken as families acculturate,” a finding that helps explain why the “paradox” fades in later U.S.-born generations of Latino families.

From The Wall Street Journal

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