subculture

noun

sub·​cul·​ture ˈsəb-ˌkəl-chər 

1

a

: a culture (as of bacteria) derived from another culture

b

: an act or instance of producing a subculture

2

: an ethnic, regional, economic, or social group exhibiting characteristic patterns of behavior sufficient to distinguish it from others within an embracing culture or society

a criminal subculture

subcultural

ˌsəb-ˈkəlch-rəl 

-ˈkəl-chə-

adjective

subculturally adverb

subculture transitive verb

Examples of subculture in a Sentence

a subculture of local painters

a subculture of poverty and crime

Recent Examples on the Web

To read Elin Hilderbrand is to join a delicious subculture. —Melissa Kravitz Hoeffner, Glamour, 11 June 2024

As if women didn’t already have enough reason to fear men, the rise of the incel (involuntarily celibate) movement surely represents one of the most disheartening and dangerous subcultures to have sprung from the internet’s rotten skull. —Chris Wheatley, Longreads, 6 June 2024

Believers at the five-day convention between May 30 to June 3 nurtured a subculture that’s now passing laws and opening minds. —August Brown, Los Angeles Times, 4 June 2024

This political movement grew up alongside the development of an all-encompassing conservative evangelical subculture that fused religious and political identities in everything from sermons to Christian rock and self-help books. —Emily Suzanne Johnson / Made By History, TIME, 3 June 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1885, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Medical Definition

subculture

1 of 2 noun

sub·​cul·​ture ˈsəb-ˌkəl-chər 

1

: a culture (as of bacteria) derived from another culture

2

: an act or instance of producing a subculture

subcultural

-ˈkəlch-(ə-)rəl 

adjective

subculturally

-ē 

adverb

subculture

2 of 2 transitive verb

subcultured; subculturing

: to culture (as bacteria) anew on a fresh medium by inoculation from an older culture