cultured
/'kʌltʃə/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
- Adjective:
- Having or showing refined taste, manners, and education: Describes a person, group, or thing that exhibits the qualities associated with advanced intellectual and aesthetic development, often acquired through education and exposure to the arts and humanities.
- Produced under artificial conditions, as in biology: Used in scientific contexts to describe cells, tissues, or microorganisms grown in a prepared nutrient medium.
Usage and Examples
- As an adjective describing a person or group:
- She is a cultured individual who enjoys opera and fine art.
- The event was attended by a cultured audience who appreciated the classical music.
- As an adjective in a scientific context:
- The researchers studied the cultured bacteria in the lab.
- This experiment requires cultured cells from the original sample.
Advanced Usage and Nuances
- "Cultured" vs. "Educated": While both imply learning, "cultured" specifically emphasizes refinement, aesthetic appreciation, and sophisticated manners, often in social contexts. An educated person has knowledge; a cultured person has taste and polish derived from that knowledge.
- Implied social class: Historically, the term can carry connotations of wealth and leisure, suggesting the time and resources needed to acquire cultural refinement.
- In a critical context: Can sometimes be used to imply elitism or snobbery.
- He dismissed their preferences as unsophisticated, revealing his own cultured disdain.
Variants and Related Words
- Culture (n): The arts, customs, and intellectual achievements of a particular society or group. Also, the process of growing microorganisms.
- Cultured pearl (n): A pearl created by inserting a nucleus into an oyster, as opposed to one formed naturally.
- Uncultured (adj): Lacking in cultural refinement.
Synonyms
- Refined
- Cultivated
- Sophisticated
- Polished
- Genteel (can be old-fashioned)
- Civilized
Antonyms
- Uncultured
- Unrefined
- Crude
- Philistine (showing a dislike for or ignorance of cultural values)
- Unsophisticated
Idioms and Common Phrases
- Cultured palate: A refined sense of taste, especially for food and drink.
- His cultured palate could distinguish the subtlest flavors in the wine.
- The cultured elite: A term, sometimes used critically, to describe a social group perceived as possessing exclusive cultural knowledge and tastes.
Adjective
- marked by refinement in taste and manners
- cultivated speech
- cultured Bostonians
- cultured tastes
- a genteel old lady
- polite society