beatnik
/ˈbiːtnɪk/ noun
Forms beatniks beatniki
- noun A person who dresses in a manner that is not socially acceptable and is supposed to reject conventional norms of thought and behavior; nonconformist in dress and behavior.
- noun A person associated with the Beat Generation of the 1950s and 1960s or its style.
Synonyms
Etymology
Coined by American columnist Herb Caen in 1958. From beat (generation) + -nik (“person who exemplifies or endorses something”). Compare jazznik.
The suffix, a cutesy or ironic use of the Russian suffix -ник (-nik), experienced a surge of use in English coinages for nicknames and diminutives after the 1957 Soviet launch of the Sputnik satellite.
Sources: Wiktionary — from the Wiktionary entry “beatnik”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details