culture shock

Definition of culture shock

: 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

Examples of culture shock in a Sentence

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 Homesickness, culture shock, and stress had started to take a toll. — Lauren Decicca, National Geographic, "How wheelchair basketball changed these women's lives," 21 Oct. 2019 Even at the best of times, mutual culture shock between American and Soviet Spacebridge participants created chaos and threatened plans for future calls. — Mara Katz, Ars Technica, "The five best new podcasts to help nerds escape the news cycle," 23 Dec. 2019 Harvard eased my culture shock in moving to it from a rural Nebraska high school graduating class of 12. — Baltimore Sun Staff, baltimoresun.com, "Richard L. Hall, a career McCormick & Co. chemist and expert in flavorings, extracts and food safety, dies," 8 Sep. 2019 Stanford is going to be a culture shock academically. — Jenny Gold, The Mercury News, "A young woman, a wheelchair and the fight to take her place at Stanford," 8 Sep. 2019 Stanford is going to be a culture shock academically. — Jenny Gold, The Mercury News, "A young woman, a wheelchair and the fight to take her place at Stanford," 8 Sep. 2019 Stanford is going to be a culture shock academically. — Jenny Gold, The Mercury News, "A young woman, a wheelchair and the fight to take her place at Stanford," 8 Sep. 2019 Introducing the style of play to him, playing fast, this was a culture shock for a lot of players. — Brian Straus, SI.com, "Aaron's Long Road: USMNT, Red Bulls Center Back's Unlikely Journey," 4 Sep. 2019 Becoming accustomed to Midwest social behavior was an even bigger culture shock. — Jim Higgins, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Milwaukee Repertory Theater's 'West Side Story' spotlights Puerto Rican culture," 12 Sep. 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'culture shock.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Last Updated

26 Jan 2020

Cite this Entry

“Culture shock.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/culture%20shock. Accessed 17 Feb. 2020.

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More Definitions for culture shock

culture shock

noun

English Language Learners Definition of culture shock

: a feeling of confusion, doubt, or nervousness caused by being in a place (such as a foreign country) that is very different from what you are used to

See the full definition for culture shock in the English Language Learners Dictionary

culture shock

noun

Medical Definition of culture shock

: 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