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

Yet their financial prospects and chances of getting hired are significantly dimmer than those of Gen X graduates. —Orianna Rosa Royle, Fortune, 20 June 2025

Interesting, Nielsen also says Sirens attracted a largely Millennial and Gen X audience, with adults 35-64 accounting for 57% of its watch time. —Katie Campione, Deadline, 20 June 2025

Nielsen notes that the dark comedy attracted a largely Millennial and Gen X audience, with Adults 35-64 accounting for 57% of its watch time. —Matt Webb Mitovich, TVLine, 20 June 2025

And in 2004, 55% of people aged 18 to 26, including both millennials and Gen X respondents, reported excellent mental health. —Rachel Hale, USA Today, 19 June 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