1. a member of the Beat Generation, a group of unconventional writers and artists in the 1950s and early 1960s who rejected mainstream American values
Usage: historical; cultural movement

Examples

• Jack Kerouac was a famous beatnik writer who wrote ‘On the Road.’
• The beatnik movement influenced American literature and culture in the 1950s.
• She dressed like a beatnik with black clothes and a beret.
• The coffee shop was popular with beatniks and other artists.
• Many beatniks gathered in Greenwich Village to discuss poetry and philosophy.
• The beatnik lifestyle emphasized spontaneity and rejection of materialism.