millennial

Meanings

1. 1nouncountable

   A person from the generation born roughly between the early 1980s and the late 1990s.

   Grammar: Plural is millennials; often used for a group.

   Many millennials delayed buying a house because of high prices.

   She is a millennial who grew up with dial-up internet.

   Marketers study how millennials spend money.

2. 2adjectivebefore a noun

   Relating to this generation or its typical habits and attitudes.

   Grammar: Comes before a noun: millennial workers.

   Millennial workers often want flexible schedules.

   The cafe has a millennial look with plants and bare brick.

   A millennial voter turned out in record numbers.

3. 3adjectivebefore a nounformal

   Relating to a period of a thousand years.

   Grammar: A less common sense; also used in religion for a thousand-year reign.

   The city held a millennial celebration.

   Historians discussed millennial changes in climate.

   Some believers expect a millennial age of peace.

Word forms

Common combinations

millennial generation

The millennial generation grew up alongside the internet.

millennial workers

Millennial workers value flexibility.

older millennial

As an older millennial, I remember cassette tapes.

younger millennial

A younger millennial may have grown up with smartphones.

millennial voters

Millennial voters shaped the result.

Synonyms and how they differ

Gen Y

Gen Y is another name for the same group, used more in business writing.

Generation Y

Generation Y is the formal version of Gen Y, mostly in older articles.

young adult

Young adult describes a life stage, while millennial names a birth cohort.

Word family

millennium noun

a period of a thousand years

millennials noun

the generation as a group

Gen Z noun

the generation born after the millennials

Commonly confused: millennial or millennium?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “millennial”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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