c.1965, American English (Haight-Ashbury slang); earlier hippie, 1953, was a usually disparaging variant of hipster (1941) "person who is keenly aware of the new and stylish," from hip "up-to-date" (see hip (adj.)).
: Saigon has acquired an elaborate hippie culture
nounOne of a group of usually young persons who reject the values of conventional society and withdraw into drifting, communes, etc, espouse peace and universal love, typically wear long hair and beards, and use marijuana or psychedelic drugs; beat, beatnik
[1960s+ Counterculture; fr hip]
member, during the 1960s and 1970s, of a countercultural movement that rejected the mores of mainstream American life. The movement originated on college campuses in the United States, although it spread to other countries, including Canada and Britain. The name derived from "hip," a term applied to the Beats of the 1950s, such as Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac, who were generally considered to be the precursors of hippies. Although the movement arose in part as opposition to U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War (1955-75), hippies were often not directly engaged in politics, as opposed to their activist counterparts known as "Yippies" (Youth International Party)