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

Words nearby ninety

nineteenth hole, nineteenth man, ninetieth, nine-to-five, Ninette, ninety, ninety-day wonder, ninety-eight, ninety-eighth, ninety-fifth, ninety-first

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

How to use ninety in a sentence

Growing up, I spent countless hours pedaling behind him on a shiny aluminum tandem, exploring rural North Texas roads, where we lived in the nineties, and tackling the rocky singletrack overlooking Lake Grapevine.
My Dad’s Last Tour de France|Ian Dille|June 28, 2021|Outside Online
Ninety percent of women waiters get harassed sexually, according to a recent study.
Why Your Waiter Hates You|Jedediah Purdy|October 26, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Ninety minutes later, Scheunemann told the organizers of the ski club about the chairlift incident.
A Racist’s Crazy Ski Resort Smackdown|James Kirchick|October 18, 2014|DAILY BEAST
There only be nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety pound here.
Inside London’s Wild Brixton Academy: How Gangsters and Kurt Cobain Made It London’s Top Music Venue|Tom Sykes|September 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Ninety miles from American shores, the Castro family rules over the island prison of Cuba guided by communist principles.
Communism's Victims Deserve a Museum|James Kirchick|August 25, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Ninety-seven businesses were destroyed and 2,500 more were damaged.
San Fran Kisses Its 70,000-Person Toilet Goodbye|Jon Rochmis|August 15, 2014|DAILY BEAST
His holy book says: There is more joy over one sinner that repenteth than over ninety and nine just men.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. CCCXXXIX. January, 1844. Vol. LV.|Various
In the year five hundred and ninety-three, the Confraternity of La Misericordia was started in this city.
The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898, Volume XX, 1621-1624|Various
This organ comprised no less than ninety-five ranks of Mixture, including two stops of twenty-one and twenty ranks, respectively.
The Recent Revolution in Organ Building|George Laing Miller
Why, old Gilbert Spoonholler was ninety-seven year old when he went away.
The Soldier of the Valley|Nelson Lloyd
Then the company had become bankrupt and only a miserable ninety pounds a year had been saved from the wreckage.
The Joyous Adventures of Aristide Pujol|William J. Locke

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