ninety

American  

[nahyn-tee] / ˈnaɪn ti /

noun

• nineties
  plural

1. a cardinal number, ten times nine.

2. a symbol for this number, as 90 or XC.

3. a set of this many persons or things.

4. nineties, the numbers, years, degrees, or the like, from 90 through 99, as in referring to numbered streets, indicating the years of a lifetime or of a century, or degrees of temperature.

   His grandmother is in her nineties.

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adjective

1. amounting to 90 in number.

ninety British  

/ ˈnaɪntɪ /

noun

1. the cardinal number that is the product of ten and nine See also number

2. a numeral, 90, XC, etc, representing this number

3. something represented by, representing, or consisting of 90 units

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determiner

1. 1. amounting to ninety

      ninety times out of a hundred

   2. ( as pronoun )

      at least ninety are thought to be missing

Usage

Spelling tips for 90 The word ninety (90) is hard to spell because it can be hard to remember whether to include the e from nine when combining it with the suffix -ty. How to spell ninety: To spell ninety, you simply combine the base number (nine) with the suffix -ty, which means "multiple of 10." 9 x 10 = 90 or, in writing, nine + -ty = ninety.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• nineties
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of ninety

before 1000; Middle English nineti, Old English nigontig. See nine, -ty ¹

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Explanation

Ninety is a number that's ten more than eighty and ten less than a hundred. Ninety is a pretty big number, but there's not much else to say about it. It's one of those numbers like "sixty" or "seventy" that is formed by attaching a number in the range of 1-9 and "ty" to represent values in the tens place starting with that number. And if you were alive during the nineties (the years from 1990-1999), you probably watched a lot of "Seinfeld" and "Friends."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

ninety nineties

Man for man, Rangers won every battle, not for 45 minutes but for the full ninety.

From BBC ● Sep. 13, 2026

For ninety minutes at least, supporters and critics found themselves watching the same screen, celebrating the same attacks and groaning at the same missed opportunities.

From Barron's ● Jun. 21, 2026

“Seventy to ninety percent of my life throughout those years was with him,” he says.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 10, 2025

After ninety days, there were four times fewer people in the benralizumab group that failed treatment compared to standard of care with prednisolone.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 27, 2024

It is about zero or slightly above and there is sun and it is downhill for over ninety miles and the dogs run to my mind.

From "Woodsong" by Gary Paulsen

The reunion show also gives Mis-Teeq the chance to tap into the wave of nineties and noughties nostalgia that's found its way into TikTok and Instagram feeds.

From BBC ● Jun. 11, 2026

Afridi was clobbered for a six and a four as Brook raced through the "nervous nineties" in two balls, going from 90 to 100 before raising his bat.

From Barron's ● Feb. 24, 2026

"We haven't hit rubbish from the nineties and noughties, so that's going to be extortionate amounts," he said.

From BBC ● Feb. 18, 2026

Bethell spent just four deliveries in the nineties but at no stage looked flustered.

From BBC ● Sep. 7, 2025

The speakers are playing “Yellow Ledbetter” by Pearl Jam—another one of my favorite nineties grunge-rock bands.

From "The Sun Is Also a Star" by Nicola Yoon

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