| accepted |
welcomed into a group or society; approved. [1/2 definitions] |
| accomplishment |
(often pl.) talent, social poise, or achievement valued by polite society. [1/3 definitions] |
| acculturate |
to instill in (a growing child) the culture and values of a particular society. [1/3 definitions] |
| acculturation |
in sociology, the process of taking on the ways and values of a society or group. |
| affluent |
based on or conditioned by prolonged prosperity and the expectation of continued prosperity, as a society. [1/3 definitions] |
| anarchist |
a person who believes in, desires, or tries to realize a society or state without a government. [1/2 definitions] |
| anarchy |
a complete lack of government or law within a country or society. [1/2 definitions] |
| anomie |
a breakdown or lack of values, norms, or structure in a society. [2/3 definitions] |
| antisocial |
opposed or harmful to the values, institutions, or laws of an organized society. [1/3 definitions] |
| apartheid |
a policy of keeping people of different races separate and unequal in a society. |
| aristocracy |
a class of people who have a high social position because of the family they are born into. Members of the aristocracy are usually richer and have more privileges than other members of society. [2 definitions] |
| ASPCA |
abbreviation of "American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals," a national organization whose purpose is to take care of lost or stray dogs, cats, and other small animals. This organization tries to find people to adopt these animals as pets. |
| atavistic |
of a trait, behavior, or the like, existing or playing a role at an earlier stage or time and recurring or reappearing within an organism or within a society after long absence or seeming disappearance. |
| athenaeum |
an institution or society for the promotion of learning. [1/2 definitions] |
| Beat Generation |
(sometimes l.c.) used to characterize some members of the generation that reached maturity in the late 1950s, esp. in the United States, who were alienated from conventional society and who promoted experimentation in artistic and literary forms. |
| beau monde |
the world of high and fashionable society. |
| body politic |
in any governed society, the people collectively. |
| Boxer |
a member of a Chinese secret society that in 1900 tried unsuccessfully to oust foreigners from the country. |
| brethren |
a plural form of "brother," used to refer to fellow members of a religious or social group, society, or profession, and used esp. when addressing a formal gathering of such members; colleagues. [1/2 definitions] |
| caste |
one of the four hereditary classes into which Hindu society is divided. [2/4 definitions] |
| caste system |
a social structure in which one's class in society is determined by heredity. |