subculture

noun sub·cul·ture \ ˈsəb-ˌkəl-chər \

Updated on: 22 Apr 2018

Definition of subculture

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

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subcultural

play \ˌsəb-ˈkəlch-rəl, -ˈkəl-chə-\ adjective

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subculturally

adverb

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subculture

transitive verb

See subculture defined for English-language learners

Examples of subculture in a Sentence

a subculture of local painters
a subculture of poverty and crime

Recent Examples of subculture from the Web

His first book, on magic and the secret lives of the subculture’s most prominent young magicians, will be published in 2019 by Dey Street Books, an imprint of HarperCollins.

— ian frisch, Longreads, "The Strike: Chemicals, Cancer, and the Fight for Health Care," 16 Apr. 2018
Anthony, a member of a marching band who had always watched these girls, spellbound, stumbled upon this subculture one day and helped to form it into something more than just mimicry.

— mikelle street, Billboard, "Choreographer Jamal Sims Talks Directorial Debut With Queer Underground Dance Documentary 'When the Beat Drops'," 10 Apr. 2018
Kasinger, who splits her time between Seattle and New York City, seeks out subcultures like the competitive yo-yo world in order to balance her more conventional commissioned work.

— laura mallonee, WIRED, "Enter the Intense World of Competitive Yo-Yoing," 10 Apr. 2018
Today, access to a market of billions is just a few clicks away, allowing millions of content creators to find and monetize an audience while spawning a new subculture of YouTube celebrity.

— arun sundararajan, Time, "The YouTube Shooting Reflects a Growing Anger in the Digital Workforce," 5 Apr. 2018
My latest collection explored postindependence Nigerian Afro-funk, disco, and highlife subcultures through the unique perspective of my late grandmother Florence.

— brooke bobb, Vogue, "These Designers Are Changing the Fashion Landscape in Dubai," 3 Apr. 2018
Amid concern that violent video games encourage violence in the real world, this subculture’s approach to virtual combat and killing might seem unusual.

— chris goto-jones, The Atlantic, "Practicing for Enlightenment With Video Games," 27 Mar. 2018
But Pellicano was resourceful in this Orwellian subculture even before meeting Bell.

— james andrew miller, The Hollywood Reporter, "The Anthony Pellicano Prison Interview: Hollywood's Notorious Fixer on His Victims, Enablers and a Coming Release," 14 Feb. 2018
Lucas is interested in the jargon used by different subcultures.

— michael heaton, cleveland.com, "The worst (and funniest) insults you ever read: Minister of Culture," 28 Mar. 2018

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