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.

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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

Manchester has become a kind of cultural capital of cool in recent decades, home to global musical acts like Oasis and the Stone Roses.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026

Museum attendance in Moscow, which competes with Saint Petersburg as Russia's cultural capital, jumped 30 percent in 2025, according to deputy mayor Natalya Sergunina.

From Barron's ● Feb. 18, 2026

The Into Games report highlighted barriers such as location, access to finance, reduced cultural capital and lack of networks which prevented people from lower socio-economic backgrounds from breaking into the industry.

From BBC ● Jul. 16, 2025

They had banked cultural capital and directed their large new audience to this music that many had never heard before.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 2, 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