Generation X

Etymology

Compound of generation +‎ X. Originally attested during the 1950s. The more specific usage for the post-baby boom generation was popularized by Douglas Coupland’s 1991 novel, Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture.

Proper noun

Generation X

1. (originally) A generation of people whose future is uncertain.
   • 1964, Charles Hamblett and Jane Deverson, Generation X‎, page 191:

     When historians evaluate the contribution of Generation X one theme will recur over and over again, and that is the rage and revulsion handed from Father to Son.

2. (specifically) The generation of people born after the baby boom that followed World War II, especially those born in the 1960s and 1970s.
   • 1995 June 18, John Marchese, “The Short Shelf Life of Generation X”, in New York Times‎, page 35:

     Any self-respecting Generation Xer […] might notice that Mr. Coupland's death knell for Generation X coincides with the promotion of his latest book, “Microserfs” (HarperCollins)

See also

• Silent Generation
• baby boom
• Generation Jones
• Generation Y
• MTV generation
• xennial
• millennial
• Generation Z

Anagrams

• exonerating