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

The crowded field of 15 Democrats running for the seat spanned three generations, from Gen X to Gen Z, and with so many candidates on the ballot, the winner might need only a relatively small percentage to move on to the general election. —Todd Feurer, CBS News, 17 Mar. 2026

Millennials were 36%, Gen X 40% and Baby Boomers 39%. —Domenico Montanaro, NPR, 6 Mar. 2026

Haver, among other prominent Gen X voices, pioneered destigmatizing menopause and educating on the realities of midlife women’s health. —Alexa Mikhail, Flow Space, 10 Feb. 2026

Three decades later, those Gen X artists are in their 50s. —Judy Berman, Time, 14 Jan. 2026

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