1. A United States youth subculture of the 1950s; rejected possessions or regular work or traditional dress; for communal living and psychedelic drugs and anarchism; favoured modern forms of jazz (e.g., bebop)
   "Jack Kerouac was a prominent figure of the beatniks";
   - beat generation, beats

1. A member of the beat generation; a nonconformist in dress and behaviour
   "The beatnik recited poetry in the smoky coffee house";
   - beat [informal]

Type of: nonconformist, recusant, youth subculture

Encyclopedia: Beatniks