Lost Generation

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noun

the generation of men and women who came of age during or immediately following World War I: viewed, as a result of their war experiences and the social upheaval of the time, as cynical, disillusioned, and without cultural or emotional stability.

a group of American writers of this generation, including Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and John Dos Passos.

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Origin of Lost Generation

First recorded in 1925–30

Words nearby Lost Generation

lost, lost and found, lost cause, Lost Colony, Los Teques, Lost Generation, lost in the shuffle, lost in thought, lost motion, lost on one, lost property

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use Lost Generation in a sentence

I watched SNL—the Eddie Murphy generation—and also SCTV with Rick Moranis.
Coffee Talk with Fred Armisen: On ‘Portlandia,’ Meeting Obama, and Taylor Swift’s Greatness|Marlow Stern|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
So in that sense we have gotten close to the families that have lost loved ones, be it from one side or the other.
Mexico’s Priests Are Marked for Murder|Jason McGahan|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
After four or five months of casual interaction, they realized they both had lost a young parent to cancer.
Everyone at This Dinner Party Has Lost Someone|Samantha Levine|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
He was not originally so uninhibited, however, as can now be seen in his “lost” novel, Skylight.
The Lost Novel of Nobel-Winner José Saramago|Charles Shafaieh|January 5, 2015|DAILY BEAST

A place that has multiplied success for generation after generation of its children.
Mario Cuomo, Always Moving Us Toward the Light|Mike Barnicle|January 4, 2015|DAILY BEAST
The patache was never seen again, and there is not much doubt that it was lost with all hands on board.
The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898, Volume XX, 1621-1624|Various
This vessel, loaded with supplies, went ashore and was lost; and one hundred and twenty Japanese and three Dutchmen were drowned.
The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898, Volume XX, 1621-1624|Various
The memory of him shall not depart away, and his name shall be in request from generation to generation.
The Bible, Douay-Rheims Version|Various
They held the compound against repeated assaults, and lost several men in hand-to-hand fighting.
The Red Year|Louis Tracy
How much of the imagination, how much of the intellect, evaporates and is lost while we seek to embody it in words!
Pearls of Thought|Maturin M. Ballou

British Dictionary definitions for Lost Generation

Lost Generation

noun (sometimes not capitals)

the large number of talented young men killed in World War I

the generation of writers, esp American authors such as Scott Fitzgerald and Hemingway, active after World War I

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 Lost Generation

lost generation

The young adults of Europe and America during World War I. They were “lost” because after the war many of them were disillusioned with the world in general and unwilling to move into a settled life. Gertrude Stein is usually credited with popularizing the expression.

notes for lost generation

The characters in the book The Sun Also Rises, by Ernest Hemingway, are examples of the lost generation.