sixty

noun

six·​ty ˈsiks-tē 

plural sixties

1

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

2

sixties plural : the numbers 60 to 69

specifically : the years 60 to 69 in a lifetime or century

sixtieth

ˈsiks-tē-əth 

adjective or noun

sixty adjective

sixty pronoun, plural in construction

sixtyish

ˈsiks-tē-ish 

adjective

Examples of sixty in a Sentence

He retired when he was in his sixties.

Recent Examples on the Web

Overlooking the holy North Indian city of Rishikesh (where the Beatles visited in the sixties) and the Ganga river, the spa occupies 100 acres of the palace estate of the local Maharaja. —Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 17 Mar. 2026

By the late eighteen-sixties, landowners had settled on sharecropping—a system that kept agricultural workers, many of them former slaves, in perpetual debt—to rebuild their economic dominance after the Civil War. —Boyce Upholt, New Yorker, 14 Mar. 2026

But into her sixties and seventies her physical health deteriorated. —Natalia Sánchez Loayza, Scientific American, 13 Mar. 2026

In the labor movements of the thirties, the civil rights movement of the sixties, and the Grenadian revolution of 1979, the poem has always been a collaborator in the work of creating and sustaining movements. —Literary Hub, 5 Mar. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from sixty, adjective, from Old English siextig, noun, group of sixty, from siex six + -tig group of ten; akin to Old English tīen ten

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing sixty

• sixty-fourth note
• sixty-fourth rest
• sixty-nine

Kids Definition

sixty

noun

six·​ty ˈsik-stē 

plural sixties

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

sixtieth

-stē-əth 

adjective or noun

sixty adjective or pronoun