twenty-one

noun

twen·​ty-one ˌtwen-tē-ˈwən How to pronounce twenty-one (audio)
ˌtwən-
1
: a number that is one more than 20 see Table of Numbers
2
[translation of French vingt-et-un] : blackjack sense 1
twenty-one adjective
twenty-one pronoun, plural in construction

Examples of twenty-one in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Five years ago, during the Brown Sugar tour, D was a shy twenty-one-year-old Virginia country boy who hid behind his keyboard onstage. Touré, Rolling Stone, 14 Oct. 2025 The Smithsonian on October 12 closed all twenty-one of the museums operating under its auspices as the US government shutdown begun on October 1 continued to draw on. News Desk, Artforum, 13 Oct. 2025 So far, four boats have been destroyed, resulting in the deaths of twenty-one people. Jon Lee Anderson, New Yorker, 13 Oct. 2025 Riki had worked at the nursing home for almost two and a half years, from age twenty-one to twenty-three. Literary Hub, 10 Sep. 2025 See All Example Sentences for twenty-one

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1611, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of twenty-one was circa 1611

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Cite this Entry

“Twenty-one.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/twenty-one. Accessed 16 Oct. 2025.

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