culture war

[kuhl-cher wawr]

noun

1. a conflict or struggle for dominance between groups within a society or between societies, arising from their differing beliefs, practices, etc..

   a culture war over the right to own a gun; China’s culture war with the Western world.

Word History and Origins

Origin of culture war¹

First recorded in 1875–80; a loan translation of German Kulturkampf ( def. ). The contemporary sense was first recorded in 1985–90 .

Example Sentences

Most important, though, was that protests like these came to the conclusion that all PR is indeed good PR — which kicked off an era of advertising specifically meant to ignite a culture war.

From Salon

Finally, even in conservative culture war–adjusted terms, the factual evidence for many of her claims is dubious, to put it generously.

From Slate

The snippets she has deployed are familiar weapons in the culture war, worn out through misuse, irrelevant to the reality in which women today, as in the past, will do what they need to do to retain control of their lives.

From Slate

During his tenure, he has been known for pursuing policies relating to the culture war and against what he has called “woke ideology.”

From Salon

Few have embodied that strategy more than Paxton, who has often been described as focusing on culture war issues as attorney general.

From Salon