Word.ws English Dictionary

Californication

UK/ˌkælɪˈfɔːnɪˈkeɪʃən//ˌkælɪˈfɔɹnɪˈkeɪʃən/

Californication noun: the adoption of practices and beliefs associated with California, in particular Hollywood and Silicon Valley.

Noun

Californication (uncountable)

  1. The adoption of practices and beliefs associated with California, in particular Hollywood and Silicon Valley.
    • Indeed, if popular culture can be said to be dispersed in a process of global Californication, then no less should intellectual culture be seen as the product of the Routledgification of the world[.]1992, Ien Ang, John Hartley, “Useful Astonishment”, in Cultural Studies, page 458
    • Alternatively, one could hope that Californication works: that large numbers of people of immensely diverse racial, ethnic, religious and cultural backgrounds really can mix and blend while yet retaining a sufficiently common civic culture for America to survive as a free, democratic and...2003 August 14, Timothy Garton Ash, “God's crucible”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 26 Feb 2021
  2. (humorous) Sexual intercourse in California or in a Californian style.
    • Isaac was pictured as the only male in the state who could satisfy his many succubi, and the Californication took place on his couch in City Hall, in the Temple, in saloons, in his carriage, in his home, oh, just anywhere.1947, M. Marion Marberry, The Golden Voice - A Biography of Isaac Kalloch, page 311
    • A teenage bride with a baby inside getting high on information / And buy me a star on the boulevard, it's Californication1999, “Californication”, in Californication, performed by Red Hot Chili Peppers
  3. (US, derogatory, urban studies) The large-scale development of land; urban sprawl.
    • It's also culturally unique, its natives resisting many elements of "californication", the "glintzy" urban sprawl typified by Los Angeles.a. 1981, Coda: Poets and Writers Newsletter, page 17
    • If the intermountain West, from New Mexico to Montana, is today running scared of growth and Californication, the Great Plains is a large slice of the West that does not share that particular fear.1996, Dan L[ouie] Flores, “A Long Love Affair with an Uncommon Country: Environmental History and the Great Plains”, in Fred B. Samson, Fritz L. Knopf, editors, Prairie Conservation: Preserving North...

Examples of Californication in a sentence

  • What Europe needs is more Californication.2003 August 14, Timothy Garton Ash, “God's crucible”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 26 Feb 2021:
  • Thirty years ago, voters in Portland, Ore., adopted strict growth limits to prevent “Californication” of their landscape.2000 March 3, D. J. Waldie, “Do the Voters Really Hate Sprawl?”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 02 Nov 2021:

Synonyms of Californication

Forms of Californication

alternative formCaliforniation
alternative formCalifornification

Origin of Californication

From Californ(ia) + -ication. First use appears c. 1947. Especially popularized by the use as title for a song (1999) and a TV series (2007–2014). Sexual sense either directly from a blend of California + fornication or rebracketing as Cali + fornication.

Words that rhyme with Californication

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about Californication

What does Californication mean?
Californication means the adoption of practices and beliefs associated with California, in particular Hollywood and Silicon Valley.
How do you use Californication in a sentence?
What Europe needs is more Californication.
What part of speech is Californication?
Californication is a noun.
How do you pronounce Californication?
Californication is pronounced /ˌkælɪˈfɔːnɪˈkeɪʃən/ (UK).

Words near Californication in the dictionary

  1. Californiation
  2. Californicate
  3. Californicated
  4. Californicates
  5. Californicating
  6. Californication
  7. californidine
  8. Californification
  9. Californio
  10. Californios
  11. californite

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: Californication (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-Californication.wav.

Cite this entry: “Californication.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/californication. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.