A zoomer is a member of Generation Z, born roughly between the late 1990s and the early 2010s. The word is modelled on boomer, only with Gen Z in place of the baby boom generation, and it has nothing to do with Zoom. People use it on social media and in conversation: about themselves, often with humour; about others, sometimes condescendingly.
Could you drop zoomer into a text?
Write a short message — we'll show the mistakes right away and suggest how to say it more naturally.
The check is taking longer than usual. Your feedback will appear here automatically.
a zoomer; zoomers; Gen Z (neutral); OK zoomer (reply to a younger person)
- My manager calls me the office zoomer because I set up all our video calls.
- Typical zoomer, she'd rather send ten voice messages than make one phone call.
- The zoomers in our group finished the whole project in a shared doc overnight.
What changed
First versionDear Professor Lane, my survey shows that zoomers prefer online lectures.
RevisionDear Professor Lane, my survey shows that Gen Z students prefer online lectures.
In an email to a professor about survey results, zoomers sounds like a social media label. The same people are neutrally called Gen Z students or members of Generation Z, and that's the only change.
Older people throw OK zoomer at younger ones in reply to the famous OK boomer, when the younger person is sure they know better: Dad, nobody uses cheques anymore. — OK zoomer, just sign it. Neutral Gen Z or Generation Z works in articles and essays: Gen Z grew up with smartphones. In IELTS Speaking, say young people or people my age.
Your turn
I couldn't work out how to write a cheque, so my dad laughed, said ___ and showed me how.
Show the answer
OK zoomer — The one teasing is the dad, the older person, and the one who can't write a cheque is the younger one, so it's OK zoomer. OK boomer is what a young person says to an older one who doesn't get something modern, and here it's the other way round.
Write to a friend about a time an older relative or colleague teased you about your age. Use zoomer and say what you didn't know.
My grandma called me a zoomer because I didn't know how to read a paper map on our road trip.
Learn to use new words without mistakes
Write phrases with the words you are learning. LetsWords shows mistakes in usage and grammar, suggests corrections and explains them, and review helps the words stick.