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

But the implications for the film business — and for the wider cinematic culture — are actually pretty profound, at least according to many of the Gen X and millennial movie executives with whom THR spoke. —Mia Galuppo, The Hollywood Reporter, 30 Oct. 2024

That was until someone in her camp thought a Gen X candidate should use the Boomer playbook and, Gen Z would be onboard with it. —Nina Turner, Newsweek, 30 Oct. 2024

According to the Pew Research Center, there are five generations in the global workforce: Silent Generation (1922-1945); Baby Boomers (1946-1964); Gen X (1965-1980); Gen Y/Millennials (1981-1996); and Gen Z (1997-2012). —Bryan Robinson, Forbes, 28 Oct. 2024

The plight of Gen X, as BofA points out, echoes its earlier research finding that those individuals tend to have the highest share of necessity spending of anyone. —Jane Thier, Fortune, 28 Oct. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1992, in the meaning defined above