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

Etymology

Origin of ninety

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

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

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

Dr Runsheng Yin has published over ninety peer-reviewed papers and served as an editor-in-chief for the international journal of Forest Policy and Economics.

From Science Daily ● Feb. 26, 2024

Selling pick 'n' mix, stationery and even garden tools: Wilko has styled itself as a budget UK homeware chain for over ninety years.

From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2023

The violent conflict in Cuba created substantial economic and political instability, which captured the attention of the American government because Cuba was only ninety miles from the coast of Florida.

From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly

Auctioneer Andy Stowe said: "Mr Blobby is an icon of nineties culture, and this result proves that Blobby-mania is very much alive and well."

From BBC ● Jun. 30, 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

Having come in during the first over, he strolled to the nineties but 29 balls passed with Bethell a hit away from a century.

From BBC ● Jan. 7, 2026

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

From BBC ● Sep. 7, 2025

Jay and Trey’s voices drift from the kitchen as some nineties R&B plays on the stereo.

From "On the Come Up" by Angie Thomas