Gen Z

noun

ˈjen-ˈzē 

: generation z

Gen Z is as nuanced and complex as every generation before them … In fact, they are considered to be the most diverse and multicultural generation ever.

—Andrew Kelly and Guy Cierzan

Gen Z is incredibly media savvy, so the challenge for marketers is trying to connect with an audience that already knows every marketing trick in the book.

—Chirag Kulkarni

—often used before another noun

Gen Z activists are using social media to start movements and gather the momentum they need to make positive changes in the world.

—Savanna Smith

—often hyphenated in such use

Gen-Z students/consumers

Gen Zer

ˈjen-ˈzē-ər 

noun

or Gen-Zer

plural Gen Zers or Gen-Zers

… even the oldest Gen Zer was just a tween when the iPhone was released in 2007.

—Ryan Kelly

Though many tend to lump them together, millennials and Gen Zers are two very different cohorts.

—Chad Recchia

Examples of Gen Z in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

But a new era of social media oversaturation, thanks to TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram Stories and various other apps, have afforded Gen Z far fewer moments to escape the ever-present glare of being publicly chronicled on social media. —Bobby Allyn, NPR, 19 Apr. 2024

But protests from the country’s millennials and Gen Z prompted the government to reconsider. —Orianna Rosa Royle, Fortune, 19 Apr. 2024

The majority of Gen Z is uninterested in drinking alcohol or taking drugs, so much so that the nightlife scene is suffering abysmally, with new closures announced every week. —Rebecca Cope, Vogue, 19 Apr. 2024

Yet polls also show that members of Gen Z are overwhelmingly pro-union, a fact apparent in the organizing drives spearheaded by young baristas at Starbucks stores in recent years. —Eyal Press, The New Yorker, 18 Apr. 2024

These references cater to Gen Z, a generation enamored with 1990s nostalgia which has caused a resurgence in styles like low-rise jeans. —TIME, 17 Apr. 2024

Sam Gold is directing the show with music by Jack Antonoff, the Grammy-winning producer best known to Gen Z for working with Taylor Swift. —Rebecca Rubin, Variety, 16 Apr. 2024

Heinrich envisions his target audience for the playful tool as being younger Gen Z and Gen Alpha, looking for something fun to do with their friends. —Kristin Robinson, Billboard, 16 Apr. 2024

Roughly 70% of Gen Z actively avoid or unfollow influencers who promote products. —Ebony Flake, Essence, 16 Apr. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1996, in the meaning defined above