millennial

American  

[mi-len-ee-uhl] / mɪˈlɛn i əl /

adjective

1. of or relating to a millennium or the millennium.

2. worthy or suggestive of the millennium.

3. (often initial capital letter) noting or relating to the generation born in the 1980s or 1990s, especially in the U.S.

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noun

1. (often initial capital letter) a person born in the 1980s or 1990s, especially in the U.S.; a member of Generation Y.

   Millennials are facing a deep economic crisis.

Other Word Forms

• millennially adverb

Etymology

Origin of millennial

First recorded in 1655–65; millenni(um) + -al ¹

Explanation

Anything millennial has something to do with a span of a thousand years. If you're an English history buff, you might mark your calendar to celebrate the millennial anniversary of the 11th-century Norman Conquest — which will occur in 2066. Save the date! It sounds like "million," but millennial goes back to the Latin mille, or "thousand." It originally meant "pertaining to a period of 1,000 years," or "pertaining to a millennium." We still use it this way, referring to the 21st century and the new millennium: "The art museum put on a millennial show in 2000." It's most commonly used for the generation of people born between the early 1980s and about 2000: "Oh, those millennials and their avocado toast."

Example Sentences

“It’s not every millennial and Gen Z. It’s the cream of the crop.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 27, 2026

The tensions within and between the two couples - one millennial, the other Gen Z - reverberate throughout the episodes.

From BBC • Apr. 21, 2026

I was observing how all the members seemed to be mostly boomers and Silent Gen; then all the workers were Gen Z and millennial.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 17, 2026

They are doing better than their older millennial and Generation X counterparts.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 14, 2026

Picture the millennial plane flying west, from the lowlands of the Beni to the heights of the Andes.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann