What does "noughties" mean?

The decade consisting of the last year of the previous century and the first nine years of the next: from 1900 to 1909, 2000 to 2009, etc.

What is a synonym for "noughties"?

Common synonyms include: 00s, 1900s, 2000s, aughts, oughties, oughties.

//ˈnɔːtiz// noun

noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Noun

1
The decade consisting of the last year of the previous century and the first nine years of the next: from 1900 to 1909, 2000 to 2009, etc. UK, capitalized, plural, plural-only, sometimes
"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."
2
Alternative letter-case form of noughties. alt-of, plural, plural-only

"Generation Z includes those born in the early noughties, which is the first decade of the 21st Century from 2000 to 2009."

From nought (“zero”) + -ies (“plural of -y”), in imitation of the names of other decades (twenties, thirties, etc).

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.