folkways

American  

[fohk-weyz] / ˈfoʊkˌweɪz /

plural noun

Sociology.

1. the ways of living, thinking, and acting in a human group, built up without conscious design but serving as compelling guides of conduct.

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folkways British  

/ ˈfəʊkˌweɪz /

plural noun

1. sociol traditional and customary ways of living

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Etymology

Origin of folkways

folk + ways; term introduced in a book of the same title (1907) by W. G. Sumner

Compare meaning

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

• mores vs. folkways

Example Sentences

Ms. Somers is a wonderfully wry chronicler of millennial folkways.

From The Wall Street Journal

In fact, Mazor’s book points out that the brothers, who were born two years apart, moved around a lot as kids — Iowa and Chicago, mostly — soaking in the musical folkways of those regions and absorbing it all into their musical bloodstream.

From Los Angeles Times

Its nine stories concern the complicated Bengali families in India and America, and Lahiri’s elegant, observant prose is constantly alert to the ways that lore and folkways shape or abrade relationships.

From Los Angeles Times

Hurley, born in Pennsylvania, honed his cracked perspective on bluegrass, blues and folk in the Greenwich Village folk scene in New York in the ‘60s, after producer and folklorist Fred Ramsey picked him up on a hitchiking ramble. He released his debut album, 1964’s “First Songs,” on Folkways, the acclaimed home of Woody Guthrie and curator Harry Smith’s “Anthology of American Folk Music.”

From Los Angeles Times

The lifetime achievement Grammy Award winner, who recorded primarily for children, died “peacefully” at her residence in Chicago, according to her longtime record label, Smithsonian Folkways.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• civilization
• development
• folklore
• habit
• knowledge
• lifestyle
• society
• way of life