cultivated
Americanadjective
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prepared and used for raising crops; tilled.
cultivated land.
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produced or improved by cultivation, as a plant.
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educated; refined; cultured.
cultivated tastes.
adjective
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cultured, refined, or educated
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subjected to tillage or cultivation
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tilled and broken up
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(of plants) specially bred or improved by cultivation
Other Word Forms
- miscultivated adjective
- noncultivated adjective
- pseudocultivated adjective
- quasi-cultivated adjective
- semicultivated adjective
- supercultivated adjective
- uncultivated adjective
- well-cultivated adjective
Etymology
Origin of cultivated
Explanation
The adjective cultivated is used to describe someone who is polite and civilized. The cultivated people at the party would be very offended by crude behavior. Someone who's cultivated is knowledgeable or at least familiar with the arts, current events, history. He or she probably has traveled widely, or at least has read about other people and places. In other words, a cultivated person is a citizen of the world. As it applies to farming, cultivated soil is tilled, or churned, to prepare it for planting.
Vocabulary lists containing cultivated
"The Most Dangerous Game" by Richard Connell
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Persepolis
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100 SAT words Beginning with "C"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
As a neighbour of China as well, Pakistan has cultivated good relations with Beijing, which diplomats and Trump himself have said was key in getting Iran to the negotiating table.
From Barron's • Apr. 14, 2026
For just a moment, his carefully cultivated image as the voice of calm navigating his country through stormy seas was shattered.
From BBC • Apr. 3, 2026
The company’s strong stance on privacy and security has cultivated trust among legions of its fans who line up at Apple’s retail stores to buy its latest products.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 30, 2026
Iran has long cultivated militia allies across the Middle East as a way to project power and as a deterrent against attack.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 21, 2026
It is in a way the most civilized of all the cardinals, and its use is only forced on us by the needs of cultivated modes of thought.
From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
