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

For Gen Z, that kind of opportunity might never land. —Brit Morse, Fortune, 6 July 2025

Yet, Gen Z is financially illiterate, and is not making good use of all that readily available financial information. —Hersh Shefrin, Forbes.com, 6 July 2025

Photo-illustration by Newsweek/Getty/Canva Where Layoffs Are Happening Read more Gen Z Gen Z and Millennials Spark US Birth Rate Fears 3 Ways Student Loans Can Be Forgiven For Volunteer Work Layoffs Surge to Highest Level Since 2020 Is Gen Z Killing the Dating App? —Aliss Higham, MSNBC Newsweek, 6 July 2025

Strikingly, the poll found that younger Americans were far less likely to be patriotic than older generations: only 41% of Gen Z is extremely or very proud to be American, compared to nearly 75% of Baby Boomers. —Trevor Hughes, USA Today, 6 July 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1996, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for Gen Z

• bens
• cleanse
• dens
• gens
• glens
• hens
• jens
• pens
• tens
• wrens
• zens
• cheyennes