文化帝国主义（Cultural imperialism）有历史上帝国主义以军事力量入侵他国类似的概念。泛指全球媒体输出者支配文化较弱势的国家之媒介消费的趋势，将本身的文化及其他价值加诸在他国的阅听人上，其中的输出内容还包含了科技、所有权、生产价值、专业意识形态。通常文化帝国主义会导致文化弱势国家产生依赖、缺乏自主性，造成国家或者地区性的文化式微，但仍然需视其输出过程是否蓄意、接收方非自主的程度为何。

Cultural imperialism is the cultural aspects of imperialism. Imperialism, here, is referring to the creation and maintenance of unequal relationships between civilizations favoring the more powerful civilization. Therefore, it is the practice of promoting and imposing a culture, usually of politically powerful nations over less potent societies. It is the cultural hegemony of those industrialized or economically influential countries, which determine general cultural values and standardize civilizations throughout the world. Many scholars employ the term, especially those in the fields of history, cultural studies, and postcolonial theory. The term is usually used in a pejorative sense, often in conjunction with a call to reject such influence. Cultural imperialism can take various forms, such as an attitude, a formal policy, military action, so long as it reinforces cultural hegemony.