name · noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
/ˈkaʊn.tə(ɹ)ˌkʌl.t͡ʃə(ɹ)/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
CMU ARPABET:K AW1 N T ER0 K AH2 L CH ER0
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
CMU ARPABET 2:K AW1 N ER0 K AH2 L CH ER0
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
name
Meaning 1
A cultural movement most prominent in the 1960s and 1970s, associated with peace, free love and opposition to commercialism; the hippie movement.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
Any culture whose values and lifestyles are opposed to those of the established mainstream culture, especially to Western culture.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
a culture with lifestyles and values opposed to those of the established culture
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: culture
Narrower terms: flower power
History
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ḱe? Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm Proto-Italic *kom Proto-Italic *kom- Proto-Indo-European *-teros Proto-Italic *-teros Proto-Italic *komterosder. Proto-Italic *komterād Latin contrāder. Old French contre- Anglo-Norman countre-bor. Middle English counter- English counter- Proto-Indo-European *kwelh1- Proto-Indo-European *-eti Proto-Indo-European *kwélh1eti Proto-Italic *kwelō Latin colō Proto-Indo-European *-tew-? Proto-Indo-European *-r-eh2? Latin -tūra Latin cultūrader. Middle French cultureder. English culture English counterculture From counter- + culture.
Across languages
Translations
52 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Albanian:
kundërkultura
— any culture whose values and lifestyles are opposed to those of the established mainstream culture, especially to western culture
Arabic:
ثقافة مضادة
(taqafa muddada)
— any culture whose values and lifestyles are opposed to those of the established mainstream culture, especially to western culture
Asturian:
contracultura
— any culture whose values and lifestyles are opposed to those of the established mainstream culture, especially to western culture
Basque:
kontrakultura
— any culture whose values and lifestyles are opposed to those of the established mainstream culture, especially to western culture
Belarusian:
контркультура
(kóntrkulʹtura)
— any culture whose values and lifestyles are opposed to those of the established mainstream culture, especially to western culture
Bulgarian:
контракултура
(kontrakultura)
— any culture whose values and lifestyles are opposed to those of the established mainstream culture, especially to western culture
Catalan:
contracultura
— any culture whose values and lifestyles are opposed to those of the established mainstream culture, especially to western culture
Chinese Mandarin:
反文化
(fǎnwénhuà)
— any culture whose values and lifestyles are opposed to those of the established mainstream culture, especially to western culture
Czech:
kontrakultura
— any culture whose values and lifestyles are opposed to those of the established mainstream culture, especially to western culture
Danish:
modkultur
— any culture whose values and lifestyles are opposed to those of the established mainstream culture, especially to western culture
Dutch:
tegencultuur
— any culture whose values and lifestyles are opposed to those of the established mainstream culture, especially to western culture
Esperanto:
kontraŭkulturo
— any culture whose values and lifestyles are opposed to those of the established mainstream culture, especially to western culture
Esperanto:
franĝa kulturo
— any culture whose values and lifestyles are opposed to those of the established mainstream culture, especially to western culture
Estonian:
vastandkultuur
— any culture whose values and lifestyles are opposed to those of the established mainstream culture, especially to western culture
Finnish:
vastakulttuuri
— any culture whose values and lifestyles are opposed to those of the established mainstream culture, especially to western culture
French:
contreculture
— any culture whose values and lifestyles are opposed to those of the established mainstream culture, especially to western culture
Galician:
contracultura
— any culture whose values and lifestyles are opposed to those of the established mainstream culture, especially to western culture
Georgian:
კონტრკულტურა
(ḳonṭrḳulṭura)
— any culture whose values and lifestyles are opposed to those of the established mainstream culture, especially to western culture
German:
Gegenkultur
— any culture whose values and lifestyles are opposed to those of the established mainstream culture, especially to western culture
Hungarian:
ellenkultúra
— any culture whose values and lifestyles are opposed to those of the established mainstream culture, especially to western culture
Icelandic:
mótmenning
— any culture whose values and lifestyles are opposed to those of the established mainstream culture, especially to western culture
Indonesian:
pemberontakan budaya
— any culture whose values and lifestyles are opposed to those of the established mainstream culture, especially to western culture
Irish:
frithchultúr
— any culture whose values and lifestyles are opposed to those of the established mainstream culture, especially to western culture
Italian:
controcultura
— any culture whose values and lifestyles are opposed to those of the established mainstream culture, especially to western culture
Japanese:
カウンターカルチャー
(kauntākaruchā)
— any culture whose values and lifestyles are opposed to those of the established mainstream culture, especially to western culture
Kazakh:
контрмәдениет
(kontrmädeniet)
— any culture whose values and lifestyles are opposed to those of the established mainstream culture, especially to western culture
Korean:
반문화
(banmunhwa)
— any culture whose values and lifestyles are opposed to those of the established mainstream culture, especially to western culture
Kyrgyz:
контрмаданият
(kontrmadaniyat)
— any culture whose values and lifestyles are opposed to those of the established mainstream culture, especially to western culture
Latvian:
kontrkultūra
— any culture whose values and lifestyles are opposed to those of the established mainstream culture, especially to western culture
Lithuanian:
kontrkultūra
— any culture whose values and lifestyles are opposed to those of the established mainstream culture, especially to western culture
Macedonian:
контракултура
(kontrakultura)
— any culture whose values and lifestyles are opposed to those of the established mainstream culture, especially to western culture
Malay:
budaya tentangan
— any culture whose values and lifestyles are opposed to those of the established mainstream culture, especially to western culture
Malayalam:
പ്രതിസംസ്കാരം
(pratisaṁskāraṁ)
— any culture whose values and lifestyles are opposed to those of the established mainstream culture, especially to western culture
Māori:
ahurea ātete
— any culture whose values and lifestyles are opposed to those of the established mainstream culture, especially to western culture
Norwegian Bokmål:
motkultur
— any culture whose values and lifestyles are opposed to those of the established mainstream culture, especially to western culture
Norwegian Nynorsk:
motkultur
— any culture whose values and lifestyles are opposed to those of the established mainstream culture, especially to western culture
Persian:
پادفرهنگ
(pâdfarhang)
— any culture whose values and lifestyles are opposed to those of the established mainstream culture, especially to western culture
Polish:
kontrkultura
— any culture whose values and lifestyles are opposed to those of the established mainstream culture, especially to western culture
Portuguese:
contracultura
— any culture whose values and lifestyles are opposed to those of the established mainstream culture, especially to western culture
Punjabi:
ਕਾਉਂਟਰਕਲਚਰ
(kāuṇṭarkalacar)
— any culture whose values and lifestyles are opposed to those of the established mainstream culture, especially to western culture
Romanian:
contracultură
— any culture whose values and lifestyles are opposed to those of the established mainstream culture, especially to western culture
Russian:
контркульту́ра
(kontrkulʹtúra)
— any culture whose values and lifestyles are opposed to those of the established mainstream culture, especially to western culture
Serbo-Croatian:
контракулту́ра
— any culture whose values and lifestyles are opposed to those of the established mainstream culture, especially to western culture
Serbo-Croatian:
kontrakultúra
— any culture whose values and lifestyles are opposed to those of the established mainstream culture, especially to western culture
Slovak:
kontrakultúra
— any culture whose values and lifestyles are opposed to those of the established mainstream culture, especially to western culture
Slovene:
protikultura
— any culture whose values and lifestyles are opposed to those of the established mainstream culture, especially to western culture
Spanish:
contracultura
— any culture whose values and lifestyles are opposed to those of the established mainstream culture, especially to western culture
Swedish:
motkultur
— any culture whose values and lifestyles are opposed to those of the established mainstream culture, especially to western culture
Tagalog:
kontrakultura
— any culture whose values and lifestyles are opposed to those of the established mainstream culture, especially to western culture
Thai:
วัฒนธรรมต่อต้าน
(wát-tá-ná-tam dtòr dtâan)
— any culture whose values and lifestyles are opposed to those of the established mainstream culture, especially to western culture
Turkish:
karşıkültür
— any culture whose values and lifestyles are opposed to those of the established mainstream culture, especially to western culture
Ukrainian:
контркульту́ра
(kontrkulʹtúra)
— any culture whose values and lifestyles are opposed to those of the established mainstream culture, especially to western culture