hippie

noun hip·pie \ ˈhi-pē \

variants: or hippy

|Updated on: 18 Jun 2018

plural hippies

: a usually young person who rejects the mores of established society (as by dressing unconventionally or favoring communal living) and advocates a nonviolent ethic; broadly : a long-haired unconventionally dressed young person

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hippiedom

play \ˈhi-pē-dəm\ noun

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hippieish

play \ˈhi-pē-ish\ adjective

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hippieness

or hippiness play \ˈhi-pē-nəs\ noun

See hippie defined for English-language learners

Examples of hippie in a Sentence

She used to be a hippie, but she's fairly conservative now.
The band appeals to a new generation of hippies.

Recent Examples of hippie from the Web

There were the traditional New Age types: hippies, cyberpunks, and transhumanists, too.

— joi ito, WIRED, "The Responsibility of Immortality: Welcome to the New Transhumanism," 4 June 2018
Groupies, doormen, hippies, astronauts, bankers and frat boys took on a magisterial presence in his writing, and if there was a hint of hypocrisy in their actions, then all the better.

— thomas curwen, latimes.com, "Tom Wolfe, novelist and pioneer of New Journalism, dies at 88," 15 May 2018
Groupies, doormen, hippies, astronauts, bankers and frat boys took on a magisterial presence in his writing, and if there was a hint of hypocrisy in their actions, then all the better.

— thomas curwen, sacbee, "Tom Wolfe, novelist and pioneer of New Journalism, dies at 88 | The Sacramento Bee," 15 May 2018
Despite popular myth, the University District in the 1960s and 1970s was not saturated with the proverbial long-haired hippies.

— erik lacitis, The Seattle Times, "Longtime University District barber Johnny Luera says it’s time for his final cut," 21 Feb. 2018
Since then, psychedelic drugs have had a reputation mostly as a dangerous hippie pastime.

— andrea gawrylewski, Scientific American, "Apollo, the Graphic Novel; Scientists on Acid and Other New Science Books," 1 June 2018
Abandoned by the mining company in 1953, it was saved from ghosthood in the late 1960s by the arrival of hippies, back-to-the-landers, and other dropouts.

— brett martin, Outside Online, "Katie Lee, Our Lady of Glen Canyon," 24 May 2018
Neil Wampler is a 70-year-old hippie who came to the Malheur occupation and offered to cook for the masses of people arriving from around the country.

— leah sottile, Longreads, "Bundyville Chapter One: A War in the Desert," 15 May 2018
As a result, the social and cultural profile of opioid users shifted as well: The old stereotype of a heroin junkie — a dropout or a hippie or a Vietnam vet — disappeared in the younger generation, especially in high schools.

— andrew sullivan, Daily Intelligencer, "This nation pioneered modern life. Now epic numbers of Americans are killing themselves with opioids to escape it.," 20 Feb. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'hippie.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of hippie

⁴hip + -ie

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1965

in the meaning defined above

See Words from the same year

HIPPIE Defined for English Language Learners

hippie

noun

: a usually young person who rejects established social customs (such as by dressing in an unusual way or living in a commune) and who opposes violence and war; especially : a young person of this kind in the 1960s and 1970s