cancel culture

noun

: the practice or tendency of engaging in mass canceling (see cancel entry 1 sense 1e) as a way of expressing disapproval and exerting social pressure

For those of you who aren't aware, cancel culture refers to the mass withdrawal of support from public figures or celebrities who have done things that aren't socially accepted today. This practice of "canceling" or mass shaming often occurs on social media platforms such as Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook.

—Demetria Slyt

At a Republican National Convention where speakers' rage about cancel culture has been clear, former Covington Catholic student Nick Sandmann used his speaking slot to introduce himself as "the teenager who was defamed by the media."

—Hunter Woodall

Cancel culture is supported as a tool to stop offensive and harmful behavior, while others find it problematic and toxic.

—Elise Krumholz

cancel culture warriors

the cancel culture movement

also : the people who engage in or support this practice

I have to admit that I'm not opposed to the majority of legacies, groups of people, and trends being scrutinized by the cancel culture. In fact, the response to many of the ideologies and personalities that have been "cancelled" is, in most cases, long, long overdue. But I have a few concerns …

—Brad Peters

Examples of cancel culture in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

In recent years, the censorship and false narratives of woke cancel culture have transformed our great universities into greenhouses for this deadly and virulent pestilence. —Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 4 Mar. 2025

Four years later, partly in response to the behavior of two former students who critiqued her for those comments, Adichie published a blog post decrying cancel culture. —Sanjena Sathian, Vulture, 24 Feb. 2025

In a world of ever-increasing media scrutiny, TikTok moments, and cancel culture, last decade’s call for authenticity has given way to a generation of leaders who need to more tightly control what gets said and heard. —Sally Percy, Forbes, 16 Dec. 2024

Though this tweet was deleted — and Ye’s Twitter account was briefly locked in response, though it was quickly unlocked — another, in which Ye seemed to rhetorically suggest Jewish people invented cancel culture, initially remained online. —Aja Romano, Vox, 7 Feb. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

2016, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for cancel culture

• agriculture
• apiculture
• aquaculture
• counterculture
• floriculture
• horticulture
• mariculture
• monoculture
• sericulture
• silviculture
• viticulture
• arboriculture