Lost Generation

noun

1. 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.
2. a group of American writers of this generation, including Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and John Dos Passos.

Lost Generation

noun

1. the large number of talented young men killed in World War I
2. the generation of writers, esp American authors such as Scott Fitzgerald and Hemingway, active after World War I

lost generation

1. 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

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of Lost Generation¹

First recorded in 1925–30

Example Sentences

“Our children are part of a lost generation,” says Belia, who sees how cuts at her own school have affected the students.

From The Daily Beast

The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris By David McCullough Not another rehash of the Lost Generation.

From The Daily Beast

When he became minister of education in 2009, Coltart said, “We were in danger of seeing a lost generation.”

From The Daily Beast

So are millennials truly a lost generation that will be relegated to the annals of history as Generation Me?

From The Daily Beast

But he successfully manages to shake up the predictability of the Lost Generation backdrop.

From The Daily Beast

One lost generation of Old England moves before us in the warmth and hues of life.

From Project Gutenberg