eighty

noun

ˈā-tē 

plural eighties

1

: a number that is equal to eight times 10 see Table of Numbers

2

eighties plural : the numbers 80 to 89

specifically : the years 80 to 89 in a lifetime or century

eightieth

ˈā-tē-əth 

adjective or noun

eighty adjective

eighty pronoun, plural in construction

Examples of eighty in a Sentence

The temperature rose to the high eighties.

She is in her mid-eighties.

Recent Examples on the Web

Yet, amid the greed-is-good eighties, the neat and tidy life took a while to take off. —Jennifer Wilson, The New Yorker, 16 Dec. 2024

There are new waves of independent and underground artists that are developing their sound and will probably mature musically, and some acts will culminate in something like what happened in the late eighties and early nineties with the Pixies and Nirvana. —Ron Hart, SPIN, 9 Dec. 2024

Just last week the list was crowned by Ted Danson comedy, A Man on the Inside, a show which would have undoubtedly been a big screen movie in the eighties. —Caroline Reid, Forbes, 7 Dec. 2024

The sitting President, in his eighties and visibly declining, had to be pressured into leaving the ticket; the Party no longer offers a signature policy at the scale of Obamacare or even a Green New Deal. —The New Yorker, 5 Nov. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English eighty, adjective, from Old English eahtatig, short for hundeahtatig, noun, group of eighty, from hund-, literally, hundred + eahta eight + -tig group of ten; akin to Old English tīen ten

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing eighty

• eighty-six
• ten-eighty

Kids Definition

eighty

noun

ˈāt-ē 

plural eighties

: a number that is equal to eight times 10 see number

eightieth

-ē-əth 

adjective or noun

eighty adjective or pronoun