fifty

American  

[fif-tee] / ˈfɪf ti /

noun

• fifties
  plural

1. a cardinal number, ten times five.

2. a symbol for this number, as 50 or L.

3. a set of this many persons or things.

4. fifties, the numbers, years, degrees, or the like, from 50 through 59, as in referring to numbered streets, indicating the years of a lifetime or of a century, or degrees of temperature.

   She lives in the East Fifties. He's in his late fifties. It's going to be in the fifties again today.

5. Informal. a fifty-dollar bill.

   He had a fifty and two tens in his wallet.

---

adjective

1. amounting to 50 in number.

fifty British  

/ ˈfɪftɪ /

noun

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

2. a numeral, 50, L, etc, representing this number

3. something represented by, representing, or consisting of 50 units

---

determiner

1. 1. amounting to fifty

      fifty people

   2. ( as pronoun )

      fifty should be sufficient

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• fifties
  plural

Etymology

Origin of fifty

before 900; Middle English; Old English fīftig. See five, -ty ¹

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

fifty fifties

To investigate this connection, the team studied a large multicenter group consisting of fifty patients and one hundred brain hemispheres.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 12, 2026

Around fifty miners have already taken part, and all of them have received job offers.

From Barron's ● Jul. 17, 2026

Two hundred fifty years ago, the Founders expressed the aspirations of the American people in imperishable language.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 2026

He faced just one dot ball in his fifty and hit five fours and five sixes from the other 10 balls to bring up the landmark.

From BBC ● Jun. 21, 2026

“Not this one. I bet he’s thirteen feet if he’s an inch. Probably fifty or sixty years old. My daddy would flip if he was here.”

From "Storm Runners" by Roland Smith

Khaled Al-Badri, a Kuwaiti man in his fifties, told AFP he started turning off the air conditioning before leaving his house and switching off the outdoor lights.

From Barron's ● Jul. 21, 2026

The billionaire businessman, in his fifties -- his exact age is unknown -- was arrested by the FBI in March 2023 in his luxury Manhattan apartment overlooking Central Park.

From Barron's ● Jun. 30, 2026

"He'll be out in his fifties," says Izzy's younger sister, Georgina.

From BBC ● Mar. 10, 2026

The 35-year-old has had a quiet winter with no fifties in 15 international innings across all formats, though a 97 not out in the SA20 in January casts doubt on those writing him off entirely.

From BBC ● Feb. 19, 2026

A female officer in her fifties, wearing full camouflage, was glaring at them, and barking at the Dutch reporter.

From "Zeitoun" by Dave Eggers