Gen X

noun

ˈjen-ˈeks 

: generation x

Gen X managed to stretch adolescence beyond all previous limits: Its members started becoming adults earlier and finished becoming adults later.

—Jean M. Twenge

—often used before another noun

a Gen X celebrity

—often hyphenated in such use

… 'The Blair Witch Project,' a stealth blockbuster with clever Internet marketing and so much Gen-X appeal that it's spooking Hollywood.

—Newsweek

Gen Xer

ˈjen-ˈek-sər 

noun

or Gen-Xer

plural Gen Xers or Gen-Xers

… only about 56 percent of high-school seniors in 2015 went out on dates; for Boomers and Gen Xers, the number was about 85 percent.

—Jean M. Twenge

Like many Gen-Xers, I remember childhood as an uncomplicated time when the only thing you had to worry about was being home by dark.

—Bethany Young Hardy

Examples of Gen X in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

That 9 percentage point gap is more than double the gap for Millennials and Gen X when asked that same question. —Josie Cox, Forbes, 6 Mar. 2025

Millennials are wealthier than Gen X, boomers at the same age Millennials are wealthier now than older Americans were at the same age. —Daniel De Visé, USA TODAY, 4 Mar. 2025

While the average age of broadcast TV viewers remains stubbornly Gen X and Baby Boomer, the addition of streaming as a complement to linear is designed to pull in younger viewers. —Dade Hayes, Deadline, 2 Mar. 2025

Millennials were at 49 percent, followed by Gen X and Baby Boomers at 47 percent. —Dan Perry, Newsweek, 28 Feb. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1992, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for Gen X

• becks
• checks
• czechs
• decks
• dex
• ex
• flecks
• flex
• hex
• lex
• necks
• pecks