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

Some of my outfits are from the eighties, but a lot of them are also from right now. —Nigel Smith, People.com, 23 June 2025

What keeps me going is what kept my subjects flourishing in their seventies, eighties or nineties. —Marc Weingarten, Los Angeles Times, 21 June 2025

The whole world watched when Baby Jessica was stuck in a well in the late eighties, when a mine collapse sealed Chilean miners underground for 69 days in 2010, and when the Thai soccer team got trapped in a flooded cave in 2018. —Alexandra Gillespie, Outside Online, 11 June 2025

The genre’s eighties pioneers never got near the pop charts, though a couple of bands with hardcore roots, the Beastie Boys and Rage Against the Machine, prospered far away from the scene. —Kelefa Sanneh, New Yorker, 11 June 2025

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

Rhymes for eighty

• kati
• katy
• platy
• slaty
• weighty

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