acculturate

/əˈkʌl.t͡ʃəˌɹeɪt/

//əˈkʌl.t͡ʃəˌɹeɪt// verb

"acculturate" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“acculturate” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
11
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To change the culture of (a person) by the influence of another culture, especially a more dominant culture.

Corpus desk

Index EN-acculturate · acculturate · English

acculturate · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 11 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "A" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for acculturate
PropertyValue
Headwordacculturate
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/əˈkʌl.t͡ʃəˌɹeɪt/
Letters11
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “acculturate” in English

acculturatesits beyond the 100,000 most-frequent English words, in the long tail of technical, archaic, or otherwise rare vocabulary where spelling doubt tends to strike hardest.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

acculturate is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb, transcribed /əˈkʌl.t͡ʃəˌɹeɪt/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

acculturate has no tracked misspelling variants, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: * Back-formation from acculturation; first attested in 1923 The correct English form is acculturate, spelled A-C-C-U-L-T-U-R-A-T-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    To change the culture of (a person) by the influence of another culture, especially a more dominant culture.
  2. 2
    To cause (a person) to acquire the culture of a society (or of a region, industry, or company), as in the case of children growing up in that culture, immigrants learning that culture, or new hires learning the ropes of a job.
  3. 3
    To be changed by acculturation.

Etymology

* Back-formation from acculturation; first attested in 1923

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "acculturate"?
"acculturate" is spelled A-C-C-U-L-T-U-R-A-T-E. The IPA pronunciation is /əˈkʌl.t͡ʃəˌɹeɪt/.
What does "acculturate" mean?
As a verb, "acculturate" means: To change the culture of (a person) by the influence of another culture, especially a more dominant culture.
How do you pronounce "acculturate"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "acculturate" is /əˈkʌl.t͡ʃəˌɹeɪt/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "acculturate"?
* Back-formation from acculturation; first attested in 1923 See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list