tune in, turn on, drop out

phrase

To pay attention to the new way of living; to go within yourself, to take drugs; to abandon the established ways and cease conforming.

Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

phrase

alternative turn on, tune in, drop out

  1. To pay attention to the new way of living; to go within yourself, to take drugs; to abandon the established ways and cease conforming.

    That research might eventually move the category of drugs from their turn-on-tune-in-drop-out heyday in counterculture San Francisco to the mainstream.

    2018 August 23, Kara Swisher, “How and Why Silicon Valley Gets High”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

Origin

A counterculture slogan that first appeared in the 1960s and popularized by Timothy Leary and attributed to Marshall McLuhan.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

tune in, turn on, drop out. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tune%20in%2C%20turn%20on%2C%20drop%20out

MLA

“tune in, turn on, drop out.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tune%20in%2C%20turn%20on%2C%20drop%20out. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “tune in, turn on, drop out,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tune%20in%2C%20turn%20on%2C%20drop%20out.

Source: tune in, turn on, drop out on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.