Phrase guide

cultural capital

noun · 1 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

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No pronunciation record was provided for this word.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The social assets of a person, such as education, intellect, style of speech or dress, etc. that promote social mobility.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

Topics: human-sciences, sciences, social-science, sociology

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Calque of French capital culturel, coined by French sociologists Pierre Bourdieu and Jean-Claude Passeron (1970).

Across languages

Translations

7 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Chinese Mandarin: 文化資本 /文化资本 — assets
  • Czech: kulturní kapitál — assets
  • Finnish: kulttuuripääoma — assets
  • Finnish: kulttuurinen pääoma — assets
  • French: capital culturel — assets
  • German: kulturelles Kapital — assets
  • Polish: kapitał kulturowy — assets