acculturate

American  

[uh-kuhl-chuh-rayt] / 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

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Etymology

Origin of acculturate

First recorded in 1930–35; back formation from acculturation

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

acculturate acculturated acculturating

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

As part of the government’s effort to acculturate her, she puts in a few unpaid hours at a perfume shop in the downtown mall.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2015

He was trying to acculturate himself to a world that corrupted healthy human development in every way.

From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson

So Chahal wasn’t acculturated into the party the way many others have been.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 14, 2026

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

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

From New York Times ● Jan. 20, 2023

We had been trained in it, bathed in it, acculturated to hate ourselves.

From Seattle Times ● Mar. 5, 2021

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

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