eighties

English

Alternative forms

• (of the decade) Eighties, 'eighties

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -eɪtiz

Noun

eighties

1. plural of eighty

Noun

eighties pl (plural only)

1. The decade of the 1880s, 1980s, etc.
   • 1914, Amherst College, “Amherst graduates' quarterly”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name), volume 4, page 6:

     Our readers — and contributors — are apt to elect a good deal according to years. The seventies and eighties, we may suppose, are concerned for the large educational and cultural interests of their Alma Mater; the nineties are deep in the practical and business activities; the noughties are not naughty, but still young enough to sport a fantastic costume at reunion and let the college wag as it will; the oneties are the really wise as to what the college ought to be, especially on its athletic side, but as contributors modest.

   • 1919, Harry Hamilton Johnston, The Gay-Dombeys: A Novel, Macmillan, page 172,

     He and his clever staff of minor blackguards exploited to the full every weakness and caries in the London Society of the 'eighties, 'nineties, and 'oughts.

2. The decade of one's life from age 80 through age 89.
3. (temperature, rates, plural only) The range between 80 and 89.

Synonyms

• '80s, 80s

Hyponyms

• 1880s, 1980s

Translations

the decade of the 1980s

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 1980年代 (yījiǔbālǐng niándài)

• Dutch: jaren tachtig n pl, jaren 80 n pl; jaren 1980 n pl
• Finnish: kahdeksankymmentäluku, 80-luku; 1980-luku
• French: années quatre-vingt f pl, années 80 f pl
• Georgian: 1980-იანები (1980-ianebi), 1980-იანი წლები (1980-iani c̣lebi), ათას ცხრაას ოთხმოციანი წლები (atas cxraas otxmociani c̣lebi), ოთხმოციანები (otxmocianebi), ოთხმოციანი წლები (otxmociani c̣lebi), 80-იანები (80-ianebi), 80-იანი წლები (80-iani c̣lebi)
• German: achtziger Jahre n pl, Achtzigerjahre (de) n pl, Achtziger pl; neunzehnhundertachtziger Jahre n pl, 1980er
• Hungarian: nyolcvanas évek
• Indonesian: tahun delapan puluhan
• Italian: anni ottanta
• Japanese: 八十年代 (hachijū-nendai), 80年代 (hachijū-nendai), 1980年代 (issenkyūhyakuhachijū-nendai), 80s (ētīzu)
• Korean: 80년대 (palsimnyeondae)
• Polish: lata osiemdziesiąte pl, lata 80. pl
• Portuguese: anos 80 m pl
• Russian: 80-ые m pl (80-yje); 1980-ые го́ды m pl (1980-yje gódy)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: осамдесете f pl, 80-е f pl

  Roman: osamdesete (sh) f pl, 80-e f pl

• Spanish: años 80 m pl
• Swedish: åttiotalet (sv) n, åttiotal (sv) n, 1980-talet n, 80-talet
• Tagalog: dekada otsenta
• Turkish: 1980'ler, seksenler
• Welsh: pedwarugeiniau m pl, wythdegau m pl

See also

• octogenarian

decades in English (edit)

Adjective

eighties (not comparable)

1. From or evoking the 81st through 90th years of a century (chiefly the 1980s).

   Sue picked a playlist of eighties music for the dinner to remind her wife of that night they met all those years ago.

   • 1995, Anthony Ilona, “Crossing the River: A chronicle of the black Diaspora”, in Wasafiri, volume 11, number 22, →DOI, pages 3–9:

     These publications can, however, be linked to a very eighties trend initiated among African American women writers like Toni Morrison and Alice Walker whose most distinguished novels deal with previously untold stories set deep in America's imperialist, slave-owning past.

   • 2020, Chana Porter, The Seep, New York, NY: Soho Press, →ISBN, page 169:

     Next to her, a woman with puffy sleeves, bright bubblegum makeup, and big eighties hair spoke melodiously into a microphone.