Word.ws English Dictionary

high-context culture

high-context culture noun: a culture in which communication relies heavily on context, leaving many things implied rather than explicitly put into words.

Noun

high-context culture (plural high-context cultures)

  1. A culture in which communication relies heavily on context, leaving many things implied rather than explicitly put into words.
    • These social and environmental cues need not be direct and easily observed; high-context cultures use the nuances of social interaction — its content and symbolism — to understand a given situation.2003, P. Christopher Earley, Soon Ang, Cultural Intelligence, →ISBN, page 106
    • Persons socialized in low-context cultures (Americans, many Europeans) are more open and expressive and may find it difficult to take the perspective of their team members from high-context cultures2008, John F. Cragan, David W. Wright, Chris R. Kasch, Communication in Small Groups, →ISBN, page 145

Forms of high-context culture

pluralhigh-context cultures
alternative formhigh context culture

Origin of high-context culture

Coined by anthropologist Edward T. Hall in his 1976 book Beyond Culture

Questions about high-context culture

What does high-context culture mean?
High-context culture means a culture in which communication relies heavily on context, leaving many things implied rather than explicitly put into words.
What part of speech is high-context culture?
High-context culture is a noun.
What is the plural of high-context culture?
The plural of high-context culture is high-context cultures.

Words near high-context culture in the dictionary

  1. high-cheekboner
  2. high-cheekboners
  3. high-church
  4. high-class
  5. high-concept
  6. high-context culture
  7. high-context cultures
  8. high-cost
  9. high-daddies
  10. high-daddy
  11. high-def

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: high-context culture (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.

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