1. a society that places a high premium on youth, physical health and beauty, and the values, tastes, and needs of young people. Such a society tends to derogate the values, experience, and needs of middle-aged and older people and may produce subtle psychological pressures for older adults to adapt to the culture of youth.

2. the distinctive culture of teenagers and young adults, which often involves forms of dress, speech, music, and behavior that are deliberately at variance with those of the dominant culture. See also counterculture.