Cultural is an adjective describing anything related to the ideas, customs, arts, or social behavior of a group or society. It often modifies nouns like practices, institutions, or artifacts, and is used across academic, media, and everyday contexts to discuss shared ways of living. The term emphasizes group-level patterns rather than individual traits.
"The festival showcased the city’s cultural diversity."
"Researchers study how cultural norms shape education."
"Cultural heritage sites attract visitors from around the world."
"Her cultural background influenced her approach to storytelling."
Cultural derives from the noun culture, which comes from Old French cultur, later Latin cultura, from colere 'to cultivate, to grow, to nurture.' The broader sense—referring to the cultivation of the mind and social practices—emerged in Early Modern English as scholars linked “culture” with the arts, customs, and intellectual life of a people. By the 18th and 19th centuries, “culture” had expanded to denote collective patterns of thought and behavior within societies, influencing terms like “cultural studies” and “cultural identity.” The suffix -al forms an adjective indicating association or pertaining to, thus “cultural” literally means “pertaining to culture.” First known uses appear in scholarly and literary texts of the 17th–18th centuries as Europeans began systematizing differences among societies, culminating in contemporary usage that spans anthropology, sociology, media, and policy discourse.
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💡 These words have similar meanings to "Cultural" and can often be used interchangeably.
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Words that rhyme with "Cultural"
-ure sounds
Practice with these rhyming pairs to improve your pronunciation consistency:
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Pronounce as /ˈkəl.tʃə.rəl/ in US and UK; in practice you can say KUHL-chuh-ruhl. The primary stress is on the first syllable; the middle /tʃ/ is a single sound as in 'church,' followed by a schwa in the second syllable and a light 'əl' at the end. Articulators: lips slightly rounded, tongue blade for /t͡ʃ/, and the final /əl/ with the tongue relaxed.
Common errors include misplacing stress (putting emphasis on the second syllable), pronouncing the second syllable as 'cal-cho-lar' with a hard 'lar' instead of a soft /lə/; and incorrectly separating the /t/ and /t͡ʃ/. Correct by maintaining first-syllable stress, merging /t/ and /t͡ʃ/ into /t͡ʃ/, and using a relaxed schwa for the middle syllable (/lə/).
In US English, /ˈkəl.tʃə.rəl/ with a pronounced /ə/ in the second syllable and a rhotic final /r/. UK English tends to be non-rhotic in many accents, so the final /r/ may be less pronounced; /ə/ remains in the second syllable. Australian English resembles US with /ˈkʌl.tʃə.rəl/ and tends toward a closer /ɐ/ in some speakers. Listen for rhoticity and vowel quality differences in stressed first syllable.
The difficulty lies in the /kəl/ onset with a light, unstressed first vowel and the /t͡ʃ/ blend immediately after, which must be tight but not fused to the following /ə/. The ending /rəl/ combines a rhotic schwa with a light /l/, requiring subtle tongue relaxation. Mastery requires practicing the quick transition from /t/ into /t͡ʃ/ and keeping the middle vowel relaxed.
Is there a subtle syllable boundary after the /l/ in 'Cultural'? Not in standard pronunciation. The word is typically pronounced as three syllables /ˈkəl.tʃə.rəl/, with no audible pause between syllables. The middle /t͡ʃ/ blends into the following /ə/ smoothly; focus on keeping the first syllable stress and the final /rəl/ light and quick.
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