cancel culture

noun

: the practice or tendency of engaging in mass canceling (see cancel entry 1 sense 1e) as a way of expressing disapproval and exerting social pressure

For those of you who aren't aware, cancel culture refers to the mass withdrawal of support from public figures or celebrities who have done things that aren't socially accepted today. This practice of "canceling" or mass shaming often occurs on social media platforms such as Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook.

—Demetria Slyt

At a Republican National Convention where speakers' rage about cancel culture has been clear, former Covington Catholic student Nick Sandmann used his speaking slot to introduce himself as "the teenager who was defamed by the media."

—Hunter Woodall

Cancel culture is supported as a tool to stop offensive and harmful behavior, while others find it problematic and toxic.

—Elise Krumholz

cancel culture warriors

the cancel culture movement

also : the people who engage in or support this practice

I have to admit that I'm not opposed to the majority of legacies, groups of people, and trends being scrutinized by the cancel culture. In fact, the response to many of the ideologies and personalities that have been "cancelled" is, in most cases, long, long overdue. But I have a few concerns …

—Brad Peters

Examples of cancel culture in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

On the right, this manifested itself as various forms of xenophobia and a wholesale mistrust of institutional figures; on the left, as much of what came to be called cancel culture and its censorious milieu. —Gideon Lewis-Kraus, New Yorker, 28 May 2025

Jay Williams, former Duke star and current ESPN analyst, asked if cancel culture is the reason why there hasn’t been an American MVP recently. —Ryan Canfield, FOXNews.com, 24 May 2025

Backlash against ‘cancel culture’ persists In the woman’s case, a contingent of supporters just want to fight cancel culture, said Franciska Coleman, an assistant professor of law at University of Wisconsin Law School, who has written about cancel culture and social regulation of speech. —Terry Tang, Chicago Tribune, 8 May 2025

Better yet, the play even addresses an idea not current in 1983: cancel culture. —David Benedict, Variety, 7 May 2025

Word History

First Known Use

2016, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for cancel culture

• agriculture
• apiculture
• aquaculture
• counterculture
• floriculture
• horticulture
• mariculture
• monoculture
• sericulture
• silviculture
• viticulture
• arboriculture