Beat Generation

English dictionary entry

Meanings

name
  1. A group of countercultural American writers who came to prominence in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Their most important works are Jack Kerouac's On the Road (1957), Allen Ginsberg's Howl (1956), and William S. Burroughs' Naked Lunch (1959).
noun
  1. Alternative letter-case form of Beat Generation.

Word forms

Beat Generation the Beat Generation beat generations

Etymology

Often attributed to Herbert Huncke, from beat (“exhausted”), with Jack Kerouac later claiming it derived from beatific instead.

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