beatniks

Cultural  

1. 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.

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“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.

Example Sentences

I also omitted "beatniks" from his list of groups he believed were seeking to destroy the country.

From Salon • Aug. 6, 2023

The OED traced the origin of woke’s newer definition to a 1962 New York Times article by Black author William Melvin Kelley describing how white beatniks were appropriating Black slang at the time.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 29, 2023

Today, he’s one of the last of the ’50s era folk music revivalists and beatniks who eschewed their parents’ conventions.

From New York Times • Sep. 28, 2022

The city was a meeting ground for beatniks and college activists, and they crowded into the tiny club to hear someone who spoke to their disdain for the status quo.

From Seattle Times • Oct. 26, 2021

She’s a lady down the block who used to hang out in Greenwich Village with the beatniks.

From "Dreaming in Cuban" by Cristina García