Cultural Critique Vocabulary

noun a dull or boring person

• The elderly gentleman was often described as a fuddy duddy due to his traditional views.
• My aunt is such a fuddy duddy when it comes to technology, she still uses a flip phone.
• Don't be such a fuddy duddy, let's go out and have some fun!
• The company's outdated policies made it seem like a fuddy duddy in the fast-paced industry.

noun a person who has recently become rich, especially one who flaunts their wealth in a flashy or extravagant way

• The nouveau riche family built a lavish mansion in the upscale neighborhood.
• The nouveau riche couple threw a fancy party to show off their wealth.
• The nouveau riche dude is always flaunting his money on social media.
• The sudden success of the startup turned the founders into nouveau riche overnight.

noun the quality of being excessively refined or affected in manner or language

• The artist's work was characterized by a sense of preciosity in every detail.
• She always had a knack for adding a touch of preciosity to her outfits.
• That necklace is so blingy, it's almost reaching levels of preciosity.
• His writing style was criticized for its excessive preciosity, lacking in raw emotion.

adjective lacking good manners, refinement, or grace

• His uncouth behavior at the formal dinner party was quite embarrassing.
• I can't believe how uncouth he was acting at the movie theater.
• She's always been a bit uncouth, but we love her anyway.
• The uncouth storm raged on, destroying everything in its path.

noun a vulgar person

adjective characterized by lack of good manners, refinement, or taste; coarse or crude

• The use of vulgar language is not permitted in this establishment.
• I can't believe he used such a vulgar term in front of his grandmother.
• She was wearing a really vulgar outfit to the party.
• The graffiti on the wall was a vulgar display of disrespect.

noun a man who idles about in public places

• The flaneur strolled through the city streets, observing the architecture and people.
• I feel like a flaneur when I wander around aimlessly in the city.
• Check out that cool flaneur just casually walking around like he owns the place.
• She was a flaneur of the mind, wandering through memories and emotions.

noun a moment when something that was once popular or successful begins to decline in quality or popularity

verb to reach a point where something that was once popular or successful begins to decline in quality or popularity

• The TV show's ratings began to decline after they decided to have the main character jump the shark.
• The show really went downhill once they had that ridiculous episode where they made the character jump the shark.
• That show totally lost me when they had that episode where they made the character jump the shark.
• The company's decision to change their logo seemed like a desperate attempt to jump the shark and attract younger customers.