counterculture

noun

coun·​ter·​cul·​ture ˈkau̇n-tər-ˌkəl-chər How to pronounce counterculture (audio)
: a culture with values and mores that run counter to those of established society
countercultural adjective
counterculturalism noun
counterculturist noun

Examples of counterculture in a Sentence

the counterculture of the hippies He was part of the antiwar counterculture.
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Throughout the 1970s, as much as Nicholson’s rebels or Beatty’s hopeless romantics, Keaton’s optimistic dreamers repeatedly collided with the realities of the times, measuring the distance between what the counterculture thought was possible and what the world would actually allow. Tim Grierson, Rolling Stone, 11 Oct. 2025 The ’60s counterculture sometimes pretended to be about that (and occasionally was), but that’s not really what the ’60s were about. Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 9 Oct. 2025 In other words, the vast majority of those who’ve come in contact with Pynchon’s work are college graduates who enter through Oedipa Maas, a California housewife turned counterculture detective. Literary Hub, 7 Oct. 2025 By the late sixties, the counterculture was beginning to break into prime-time television. Rachel Syme, New Yorker, 29 Sep. 2025 See All Example Sentences for counterculture

Word History

First Known Use

1947, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of counterculture was in 1947

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Cite this Entry

“Counterculture.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/counterculture. Accessed 17 Oct. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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