ninety

[ nahyn-tee ]

/ ˈnaɪn ti /

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noun, plural nine·ties.

a cardinal number, ten times nine.

a symbol for this number, as 90 or XC.

a set of this many persons or things.

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.

adjective

amounting to 90 in number.

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Origin of ninety

before 1000; Middle English nineti,Old English nigontig.See nine, -ty¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use ninety in a sentence

In the nineties, “gay rights” came to mean “special rights,” which may be ridiculous, but which was a successful opposing frame.
Ten Reasons Women Are Losing While Gays Keep Winning|Jay Michaelson|July 6, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The End-of-History pronouncements of the sucky Nineties settled very little.
Progressive-palooza: On Obama, Occupy, and Moral Monday|Jedediah Purdy|July 5, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Many have forgotten, but the mid-nineties were a strong run for soccer in America.
Ann Coulter Doesn’t Get the Real Reasons Behind America’s World Cup Mania|Kristen Soltis Anderson|July 1, 2014|DAILY BEAST
In the early nineties, Tedeschi was looking for a new line of research.
Surviving War Doesn’t Turn All Veterans into Victims, Sometimes it Helps Them Grow|David Morris|May 18, 2014|DAILY BEAST

(A study from the nineties put the economic penalty at 7% two more recent studies put the penalty at 5%).
How Republicans Can Win the Equal Pay Debate|Keli Goff|April 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The DeDion motor was used in some of the racing motor tandems which appeared in this country in the late nineties.
The Wonder Book of Knowledge|Various
Along in the late nineties a keen interest in bicycle racing led to the introduction of what is known as the motor-paced tandem.
The Wonder Book of Knowledge|Various
He checked the temperature, and found that it had risen into the high nineties.
The Status Civilization|Robert Sheckley
This bounty overdid farming, until, in the middle of the nineties, the cost of living had reached a minimum.
The Old World in the New|Edward Alsworth Ross
It was world-wide crop failures that finally brought the lean years of the nineties.
The Iron Puddler|James J. Davis

British Dictionary definitions for ninety

ninety

/ (ˈnaɪntɪ) /

noun plural -ties

the cardinal number that is the product of ten and nineSee also number (def. 1)

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

something represented by, representing, or consisting of 90 units

determiner

amounting to ninetyninety times out of a hundred
(as pronoun)at least ninety are thought to be missing

Word Origin for ninety

Old English nigontig

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012