Meaning & use
Gen Xer
Last updated
UK/ˌdʒen ˈeksə/
US/ˌdʒen ˈeksər/
Meaning
nouncountableinformal
A member of the generation born roughly between the mid-1960s and early 1980s, after the baby boomers.
Grammar: Singular; the plural is Gen Xers, and the group is called Generation X.
Patterns
- a typical Gen Xer
- Gen Xers and millennials
As a Gen Xer, he remembers life before the internet.
The survey asked Gen Xers about their retirement plans.
My aunt is a Gen Xer who grew up on cassette tapes.
Word forms
| plural | Gen Xers |
|---|
Common combinations
- a typical Gen Xer
- She is a typical Gen Xer who loves vinyl records.
- Gen Xers and millennials
- Gen Xers and millennials shop differently.
- a proud Gen Xer
- He is a proud Gen Xer.
- Gen Xer parents
- Many Gen Xer parents grew up with latchkey routines.
Synonyms and how they differ
- member of Generation X
- This is the longer, more formal way of saying the same thing.
- baby boomer
- A baby boomer is from the earlier generation, born after the second world war.
- millennial
- A millennial is from the next generation after Gen X.
Word family
- Generation X noun
- the group born after the baby boomers
- Gen Z noun
- the generation after millennials
- generational adjective
- relating to a generation
Commonly confused: Gen Xer or Gen X?
Gen Xer vs Gen X
Gen X names the whole generation, but Gen Xer names one person in it.
Practice
Someone born in 1972 would most likely be called a ___.
Choose one answer.
Birth in the early 1970s falls within the usual Gen X range, between boomers and millennials.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “Gen Xer”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.
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