cultural capital

American  

[kuhl-cher-uhl kap-i-tl] / ˈkʌl tʃər əl ˈkæp ɪ tl /

noun

1. Sociology. the skills, education, norms, and behaviors acquired by members of a social group that can give them economic and other advantages.

   The accumulation of cultural capital is one route to upward mobility.

---

Etymology

Origin of cultural capital

First recorded in 1975–80

Compare meaning

How does cultural-capital compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• social capital vs. cultural capital

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

cultural capital

In a clever piece of installation design, shelves built around the screen bring the painting’s illusions to life, displaying real bronzes, porcelains, texts and scholarly objects from Lee’s collection—modern curation fulfilling classical cultural capital.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 6, 2026

In the bustling streets of the ancient Mughal city of Lahore, Pakistan's cultural capital, 49-year-old shopkeeper Aftab Ahmed is looking for solar panels to install at his home.

From Barron's ● Apr. 24, 2026

The mayor of London said the move would help to cement London as the "cultural capital of the world, with the best nightlife anywhere".

From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2025

Because even the robber barons were not that bad; at least they endowed some libraries and foundations and fellowships and had some idea of wanting to pretend to some sort of cultural capital.

From Salon ● Apr. 4, 2025

They say he intends to remake the Austrian town of Linz into an empyrean city, the cultural capital of the world.

From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr