counterculture

[koun-ter-kuhl-cher]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

the culture and lifestyle of those people, especially among the young, who reject or oppose the dominant values and behavior of society.

counterculture

/ ˈ�첹ʊ�Գ�əˌ��ʌ��ʃə /

noun

an alternative culture, deliberately at variance with the social norm

counterculture

A protest movement by American youth that arose in the late 1960s and faded during the late 1970s. According to some, young people in the United States were forming a culture of their own, opposed to the culture of Middle America. (See hippies and Woodstock.)

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Other Word Forms

countercultural adjective
counterculturist noun
counterculturalist noun

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Word History and Origins

Origin of counterculture¹

First recorded in 1965–70; counter- + culture

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

The Tate-La Bianca murders of 1969 struck fear into mainstream America, and this frightening hippie who had supposedly compelled his acolytes to commit murder became the bogeyman of the counterculture era.

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For one thing, there is the lingering resentment towards Yoko among music lovers and the counterculture alike.

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The title positions the perceptually fluctuating work as existing outside routine contemporary aspirations; instead, it occupies a witty place in a vaguely absurd counterculture.

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But it's also been a resolutely counterculture choice.

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John Joyce University wasn’t a university but rather a tight-knit counterculture collective that drew painters, composers, poets and more.

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countercoup countercurrent

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