Phrase guide

culture of death

noun · 2 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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1

noun

Meaning 1

In contemporary cultural discourse, a culture asserted to be inconsistent with the concept of a "culture of life," such as cultures that support contraception and abortion, euthanasia, capital punishment, human cloning, self-absorption, apathy or poverty, or fail to view human beings as ends in themselves in any other way.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: Catholicism, Christianity, government, politics

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A society that reveres suicide bombers as martyrs.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Coined by John Paul II.

Across languages

Translations

3 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Georgian: სიკვდილის კულტურა (siḳvdilis ḳulṭura) — in contemporary political and philosophical discourse, a culture that is deemed to be inconsistent with the concept of a "culture of life"
  • Polish: cywilizacja śmierci — in contemporary political and philosophical discourse, a culture that is deemed to be inconsistent with the concept of a "culture of life"
  • Polish: cywilizacja śmierci — society that reveres suicide bombers as martyrs