What does "subculture" mean?

A portion of a culture distinguished by its customs or other features, often in contrast to the larger mainstream culture.

What is a synonym for "subculture"?

Common synonyms include: subcommunity, subcommunity.

Pronounced //ˈsʌbˌkʌltʃɚ//.

//ˈsʌbˌkʌltʃɚ// noun, verb

noun, verb ·Rare ·Advanced level

Noun

1
A portion of a culture distinguished by its customs or other features, often in contrast to the larger mainstream culture.
"The goth subculture has its own mode of dress, and it has a characteristic musical style."
2
a social group within a national culture that has distinctive patterns of behavior and beliefs wordnet
3
A culture made by transferring microorganisms from a previous culture to a fresh growth medium

Verb

1
To transfer (microorganisms) to a fresh growth medium in order to start a new culture
"Cultures were subcultured by 20-fold dilution into fresh MS2D medium approximately every 7 d."

"The point of hipster subculture is to avoid conforming to societal norms."

From sub- + culture.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.