Meaning & use
culture of prejudice
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Meanings
phrasefixed phrase
A social environment in which unfair, pre-formed negative attitudes toward a group are normal and widely shared.
Grammar: Countable in form; often used with 'a' or 'the': a culture of prejudice, the culture of prejudice.
Patterns
- a culture of prejudice against someone
- the culture of prejudice in a place
The report described a culture of prejudice in which managers ignored complaints from minority staff.
Changing a culture of prejudice takes years of education and open conversation.
She grew up in a culture of prejudice that treated outsiders with suspicion.
phrasefixed phraseformal
The habits and beliefs of a group that make biased judgments seem acceptable or invisible.
Grammar: Often used in academic or journalistic writing about discrimination; not usually plural.
Patterns
- challenge a culture of prejudice
- a culture of prejudice and discrimination
The university promised to examine its own culture of prejudice after the incident.
Legal changes alone cannot remove a deep culture of prejudice.
Common combinations
- a culture of prejudice
- They spoke about a culture of prejudice that had existed for decades.
- root out a culture of prejudice
- The new leader promised to root out a culture of prejudice in the police force.
- deep-seated culture of prejudice
- A deep-seated culture of prejudice is hard to change quickly.
- culture of prejudice against
- There is a culture of prejudice against people with disabilities in some workplaces.
Synonyms and how they differ
- climate of prejudice
- Similar phrase; 'climate' emphasizes the current mood or atmosphere, while 'culture' emphasizes long-standing shared habits.
- institutional bias
- More specific and technical; it points to unfair rules or practices inside an organization, not just attitudes.
Commonly confused: culture of prejudice or prejudiced culture?
culture of prejudice vs prejudiced culture
This is a descriptive adjective + noun, not a fixed phrase; it means a culture that is prejudiced, but 'culture of prejudice' is the established expression.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'culture of prejudice' correctly?
Choose one answer.
The phrase describes a shared social environment, so it fits the company context. Option An is wrong because a single person does not 'have' a culture of prejudice; that would be a personal prejudice.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “culture of prejudice”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.