beatnik
[ beet-nik ]
/ ˈbit nɪk /
noun
(sometimes initial capital letter) a member of the Beat Generation.
a person who rejects or avoids conventional behavior, dress, etc.
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Origin of beatnik
Words nearby beatnik
beating, beating-up, beatitude, beatitudes, beatles, beatnik, beatniks, beaton, beatrice, beatrix, beats me
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020
Example sentences from the Web for beatniks
As the beatniks long ago learned, out there in America hair matters, and here we were in the land of the permanent wave.
‘The Land of the Permanent Wave’ Is Bud Shrake’s Classic Take on ‘60s Texas|Edwin Shrake|February 2, 2014|DAILY BEASTThe Beats are hanging out there, and eventually attracting the beatniks.
There have always been underground movements in New York, from punks to beatniks.
British Dictionary definitions for beatniks
beatnik
/ (ˈbiːtnɪk) /
noun
a member of the Beat Generation (sense 1)
informal any person with long hair and shabby clothes
Word Origin for beatnik
C20: from beat (n) + -nik, by analogy with Sputnik
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Cultural definitions for beatniks
beatniks
Members of the “beat” movement in the United States in the 1950s. Beatniks frequently rejected middle-class American values, customs, and tastes in favor of radical politics and exotic jazz, art, and literature. The movement was often classified as bohemian. The poet Allen Ginsberg and the novelist Jack Kerouac are examples of beatnik authors.
notes for beatniks
“Daddy-O” (a term of address); “Cool, man, cool”; and “strictly dullsville” are examples of slang expressions used by beatniks or by people trying to sound like beatniks.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.