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

Only 14% of Gen X workers have a traditional pension compared with 56% of boomers, according to the Retirement Income Institute. —Jessica Dickler, CNBC, 4 Nov. 2025

The unemployment rate for 16- to 24-year-olds reached about 10.5% in August, nearly three times that of their millennial and Gen X counterparts, according to Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis data. —Sasha Rogelberg, Fortune, 30 Oct. 2025

Meanwhile, a Coffee Meets Bagel report found that 37 percent of women across the Gen Z, millennial and Gen X age cohorts would not consider dating someone with different political views. —Suzanne Blake, MSNBC Newsweek, 27 Oct. 2025

Shoppers still plan to spend more this year —$796 in 2025 versus $771 in 2024 and $754 in 2023 — with Millennials and Gen Z likely spending more this year than last and Gen X and boomers sticking to the same level of spend as last year. —Vicki M. Young, Footwear News, 27 Oct. 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