Meanings
Generation Y1
- The generation of people born between 1981 and 1996 following Generation X.
Synonyms: Generation Next, millennials
generation Y2
- Alternative letter-case form of Generation Y.
Life is hard for generation Y. We intern for aeons to secure an underpaid job in a shrinking market, while watching affordable housing become a rarer phenomenon than a boss who won't resent us for knowing what a meme is.
2014 March 18, Joe Stone, “8 well-intentioned comments that young people are sick of hearing”, in The Guardian
Synonyms & antonyms
proper nounThe generation of people born between 1981 and 1996 following Generation X.
Origin
Using Y as the letter that follows X, as in Generation X.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Catalan generació Y
- generació Ygeneration of people born in the 1980s and 1990s
Chinese Mandarin Y世代
- Y世代 (Wài Shìdài, Wāi Shìdài)generation of people born in the 1980s and 1990s
Finnish Y-sukupolvi
- Y-sukupolvigeneration of people born in the 1980s and 1990s
French génération Y
- génération Ygeneration of people born in the 1980s and 1990s
Hindi Y पीढ़ी
- Y पीढ़ी (Y pīṛhī)generation of people born in the 1980s and 1990s
Hungarian Y generáció
- Y generációgeneration of people born in the 1980s and 1990s
Japanese Y世代
- Y世代 (Wai Sedai)generation of people born in the 1980s and 1990s
Polish pokolenie Y
- pokolenie Ygeneration of people born in the 1980s and 1990s
Portuguese geração Y
- geração Ygeneration of people born in the 1980s and 1990s
Spanish generación Y
- generación Ygeneration of people born in the 1980s and 1990s
Cite this entry
Generation Y. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Generation%20Y
“Generation Y.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Generation%20Y. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Generation Y,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Generation%20Y.
Source: Generation Y on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.