californication
/ˌkælɪˈfɔɹnɪˈkeɪʃən/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: 2.30 in modern English
22
Scrabble Score
15
Letters
6
Syllables
9
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
The adoption of practices and beliefs associated with California, in particular Hollywood and Silicon Valley.
Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "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[.]"
- "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 self-confident nation. […] So we should learn from the Americans. What Europe needs is more Californication."
- "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."
- "A teenage bride with a baby inside getting high on information / And buy me a star on the boulevard, it's Californication"
- "It's also culturally unique, its natives resisting many elements of "californication", the "glintzy" urban sprawl typified by Los Angeles."
- "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."
Etymology
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.
Word Breakdown
- Prefix: California, Cali#Etymology_1
- Suffix: -ication, fornication
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˌkælɪˈfɔɹnɪˈkeɪʃən/
- British English: /ˌkælɪˈfɔːnɪˈkeɪʃən/
Usage
- Uncountable
- Humorous
- American usage
- Derogatory