| 1. | the generation of men and women who came of age during or immediately following World War I: viewed, as a result of their war experiences and the social upheaval of the time, as cynical, disillusioned, and without cultural or emotional stability. |
| 2. | a group of American writers of this generation, including Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and John Dos Passos. |
| Main Entry: | lost generation |
| Part of Speech: | n |
| Definition: | young people coming of age during and shortly after World War I, esp. disillusioned by the number of people killed in the war |
The young adults of Europe and America during World War I. They were “lost” because after the war many of them were disillusioned with the world in general and unwilling to move into a settled life. Gertrude Stein is usually credited with popularizing the expression.
Note: The characters in the book The Sun Also Rises, by Ernest Hemingway, are examples of the lost generation.