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• fifteen
  fifteen

  noun

  a cardinal number, ten plus five.
• Fifteen
  Fifteen

  noun

  history the Jacobite rising of 1715

fifteen

American  

[fif-teen] / ˈfɪfˈtin /

noun

fifteens plural

1. a cardinal number, ten plus five.

2. a symbol for this number, as 15 or XV.

3. a set of this many persons or things.

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adjective

1. amounting to 15 in number.

fifteen ¹ British  

/ ˈfɪfˈtiːn /

noun

1. the cardinal number that is the sum of ten and five

2. a numeral, 15, XV, etc, representing this number

3. something represented by, representing, or consisting of 15 units

4. a rugby union football team

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determiner

1. 1. amounting to fifteen

      fifteen jokes

   2. ( as pronoun )

      fifteen of us danced

Fifteen ² British  

/ ˈfɪfˈtiːn /

noun

1. history the Jacobite rising of 1715

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Usage

Spelling tips for fifteen The word fifteen is hard to spell because it doesn’t simply combine the spelling of the base number, five, with the suffix -teen, as is done in other easy-to-remember spellings like fourteen and sixteen.  How to spell fifteen: When five is combined with suffixes, the ve is turned into an f: fifteen (not fiveteen), fifty (not fivety), and fifth (not fiveth). Remember: there’s no v in fifteen.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• fifteens
  plural

Etymology

Origin of fifteen

before 900; Middle English, Old English fiftene. See five, -teen

Example Sentences

Fifteen of them were inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 9, 2026

Fifteen of them were people of color: 14 Black people and one Hispanic person.

From Slate • Jun. 8, 2026

Fifteen minutes before Scotland began taking Bolivia to the cleaners at the Sports Illustrated Stadium, a weather warning was issued by New Jersey's department of environmental protection.

From BBC • Jun. 6, 2026

Fifteen cases, including one death, have also been reported in neighbouring Uganda, according to the Ugandan Ministry of Health.

From Barron's • Jun. 2, 2026

Fifteen minutes later, stomachs grumbling, they hopped off and bustled up the alley that would take them to the service entrance behind the Imperial Marquis Hotel.

From "The Smartest Kid in the Universe" by Chris Grabenstein