Table of Contents
Definition of Subculture
(noun) A group within society whose behaviors, norms, and values differ in some distinct ways from the dominant culture.
Example of Subculture
- The Trekker (also called Trekkie) subculture has its own mode of dress (e.g., original series, Next Generation) beliefs (e.g., the Prime Directive), language (e.g., Klingon), and folklore (e.g., the individual wearing a red shirt will not return from an away mission).
Subculture Pronunciation
Syllabification: sub·cul·ture
Audio Pronunciation
Phonetic Spelling
- American English – /sUHb-kuhl-chuhr/
- British English – /sUHb-kuhl-chuh/
International Phonetic Alphabet
- American English – /ˈsəbˌkəltʃər/
- British English – /ˈsʌbˌkʌltʃə/
Usage Notes
- Plural: subcultures
- A type of culture.
- Type: counterculture
- Variant spelling: sub-culture
Related Video
Additional Information
Related Terms
- culture
- dependency culture
- explicit culture
- high culture
- low culture
- mass culture
- nonmaterial culture
- popular culture
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Cite the Definition of Subculture
ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “subculture.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved December 2, 2024 (https://sociologydictionary.org/subculture/).
APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)
subculture. (2013). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/subculture/
Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “subculture.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed December 2, 2024. https://sociologydictionary.org/subculture/.
MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)
“subculture.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2013. Web. 2 Dec. 2024. <https://sociologydictionary.org/subculture/>.