counterculture

American  

[koun-ter-kuhl-cher] / ˈkaʊn tərˌkʌl tʃər /

noun

1. the culture and lifestyle of those people, especially among the young, who reject or oppose the dominant values and behavior of society.

---

counterculture British  

/ ˈkaʊntəˌkʌltʃə /

noun

1. an alternative culture, deliberately at variance with the social norm

---

counterculture Cultural  

1. A protest movement by American youth that arose in the late 1960s and faded during the late 1970s. According to some, young people in the United States were forming a culture of their own, opposed to the culture of Middle America. (See hippies and Woodstock.)

---

Other Word Forms

• countercultural adjective
• counterculturalist noun
• counterculturist noun

Etymology

Origin of counterculture

First recorded in 1965–70; counter- + culture

Example Sentences

What began as a counterculture movement went mainstream, shaping an understanding of health and nutrition that still dominates American culture today.

From The Wall Street Journal

While home births were once the province of counterculture hippies, Los Angeles doula Rebecca Richter said she’d been hearing from women of all walks of life “who desire more than the system is giving them.”

From The Wall Street Journal

The U.S.-influenced counterculture of the 1960s inverted the social order, venerating indigenous folkways and fueling aspirations for full independence.

From The Wall Street Journal

The Dead’s graphic symbols, including “dancing” bears, the “Stealie” lightning skull and instrument-wielding terrapins, were plastered across innumerable merchandise and became a calling card of hippie-influenced counterculture over the ensuing decades.

From Los Angeles Times

Within a few years, they became a force within San Francisco's characteristic counterculture.

From BBC