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

See Examples For:

acculturate acculturated acculturating

“We are trying to acculturate into American society, and WeChat provides this bridge for us to empower one another,” Ms. Lu said.

From New York Times ● Oct. 5, 2020

The duty of new migrants is to integrate, acculturate and adhere to Australian values of democracy, tolerance and fairness.

From The Guardian ● Aug. 15, 2018

The repercussions of such a holding would go beyond access to free public education—itself a right of inestimable importance in helping to acculturate and open opportunities for so many undocumented children.

From Slate ● Jul. 5, 2018

Within the walls of our middle school, these students found safety and an environment where they could process their trials, learn English and begin to acculturate to life in the United States.

From Washington Post ● Jun. 19, 2018

Immigrants were encouraged to acculturate as quickly as they could—meaning that they must learn a new language, giving up traditions, customs, heritage, etc., in order to blend and assimilate into the general population.

From "Music and the Child" by Natalie Sarrazin

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 ● Feb. 1, 2024

The Christians of the Middle East had also been acculturated by centuries of living under Muslim rule, which meant the Christianity of the east looked very different from that practiced in Europe.

From Textbooks ● Apr. 19, 2023

Of course, we are acculturated to view such nakedly unsentimental visions of humanity as coldly “rational,” a tendency Kirsch indulges despite evidence that transhumanism is scientifically dubious.

From Slate ● Jan. 26, 2023

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

From New York Times ● Jan. 20, 2023

As a child grows, he or she becomes acculturated to all of the sounds in their environment.

From "Music and the Child" by Natalie Sarrazin

It was difficult acculturating to life in the United States after immigrating from the Philippines when she was 4.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2022

The following year, Lollapalooza filled fields nationwide not just with amazing bands, but stalls selling hemp products and Greenpeace donation booths, acculturating a generation to the idea of voting their ethics with their wallets.

From Slate ● Oct. 21, 2013

“Utica is a model for a small community in terms of integrating and acculturating emerging populations.”

From New York Times ● Aug. 19, 2010