culture shock

noun

: a sense of confusion and uncertainty sometimes with feelings of anxiety that may affect people exposed to an alien culture or environment without adequate preparation

Example Sentences

Foreign students often experience culture shock when they first come to the U.S.

Moving to the city was a huge culture shock for him.

Recent Examples on the Web

So coaching in Southern California was culture shock. —Luca Evans, Los Angeles Times, 20 Mar. 2023

Steve Yegge, another esteemed author in the genre of 'ex-Google employee calls out the company,' described the culture shock of moving to Android from another part of Google. —Ron Amadeo, Ars Technica, 16 Feb. 2023

Meanwhile, her reunion with the paternal side of the family is rife with culture shock. —Odie Henderson, BostonGlobe.com, 2 Mar. 2023

But what might have followed the familiar path of culture shock and discovery of one’s roots, in this story by French Cambodian filmmaker Davy Chou — Cambodia’s official Oscar submission — becomes something else entirely. —Michael O'sullivan, Washington Post, 22 Feb. 2023

Of course, culture shock works the other way around, too, and the image of Southerners who venture to the cold, bitter North for college only to be met by cultural snobbism and insulting assumptions about their identities is itself a stereotype. —Nicole Laporte, Town & Country, 2 Oct. 2022

No real culture shock for me coming back from Panama. —Dalton Ross, EW.com, 3 Mar. 2021

Women’s participation in the economy was another culture shock. —Emilie Le Beau Lucchesi, Discover Magazine, 15 July 2022

These articles include manuals for coping with stress, advice for dealing with culture shock, and personal stories from others who’ve left Russia and have succeeded personally and professionally. —Pranshu Verma, Washington Post, 15 Oct. 2022

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Word History

First Known Use

1932, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

culture shock

noun

: a sense of confusion and uncertainty sometimes with feelings of anxiety that may affect people exposed to an alien culture or environment without adequate preparation