counterculture

[koun-ter-kuhl-cher]

noun

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

Origin of counterculture

First recorded in 1965–70; counter- + culture

Related formscoun·ter·cul·tur·al, adjectivecoun·ter·cul·tur·ist, coun·ter·cul·tur·al·ist, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for countercultural

Contemporary Examples of countercultural

Sony Pictures Entertainment has put out some of the most countercultural, anti-authoritarian movies of the past century.
Sony: Hollywood’s Most Subversive Studio Under Attack
Marlow Stern
December 23, 2014
But with LSD, because it was countercultural, and because it was used as an experimental drug, it was not marketed properly.
Frances McDormand on 'Olive Kitteridge,' Dropping LSD, and Her Beef With FX's 'Fargo'
Marlow Stern
September 3, 2014
Until that equation tips, individual Republicans may break ranks on gay rights, but the party remains a countercultural bastion.
Red America’s Anti-Gay Backlash
Jonathan Rauch
June 15, 2014
One outward-focused and attuned to external valuations, the other more independent, rebellious, and countercultural.
The New Cool: Can Coolness Be Studied Like a Science?
Jesse Singal
June 18, 2012
The mainstream assimilation of countercultural values is no longer just a social phenomenon.
Is Obama the New Nixon?
Lee Siegel
September 15, 2009

British Dictionary definitions for countercultural

counterculture

noun

an alternative culture, deliberately at variance with the social norm

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

Word Origin and History for countercultural

counterculture

also counter-culture, counter culture, 1968, from counter- + culture (q.v.).

countercultural in Culture

counterculture

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.)