: a person who participated in a social movement of the 1950s and early 1960s which stressed artistic self-expression and the rejection of the mores of conventional society
broadly
: a usually young and artistic person who rejects the mores of conventional society
Examples of beatnik in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
One dresses like a beatnik gymnast; the other like a Romanian fortune teller.
—
Jeff Weiss, HollywoodReporter, 12 June 2025
The clothes evoked ’60s beatniks, countercultural girls in sweaterdresses, smartly dressed officers in uniform, and naval ratings in sailor pants—looks that ran up and down the register of the cool, the hip, and the immaculately classic….
—Steff Yotka, Vogue, 28 Apr. 2025
The neighborhood still trades on its beatnik associations, although hedge-funders have long since replaced the likes of Frank O’Hara, Lorraine Hansberry, and Jane Jacobs.
—Michael Schulman, The New Yorker, 20 Jan. 2025
The landlord was a bearded beatnik, a vestige of another era, who’d bought several ramshackle structures for a song in the sixties and liked to curate an assortment of interesting tenants.
—Sarah Braunstein, The New Yorker, 21 July 2024
See All Example Sentences for beatnik
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Jeff Weiss, HollywoodReporter, 12 June 2025
The clothes evoked ’60s beatniks, countercultural girls in sweaterdresses, smartly dressed officers in uniform, and naval ratings in sailor pants—looks that ran up and down the register of the cool, the hip, and the immaculately classic….
—Steff Yotka, Vogue, 28 Apr. 2025
The neighborhood still trades on its beatnik associations, although hedge-funders have long since replaced the likes of Frank O’Hara, Lorraine Hansberry, and Jane Jacobs.
—Michael Schulman, The New Yorker, 20 Jan. 2025
The landlord was a bearded beatnik, a vestige of another era, who’d bought several ramshackle structures for a song in the sixties and liked to curate an assortment of interesting tenants.
—Sarah Braunstein, The New Yorker, 21 July 2024
See All Example Sentences for beatnik
Cite this Entry
“Beatnik.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/beatnik. Accessed 30 Jun. 2025.
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