Forties

adj, name, noun

adj, name, noun ·2 syllables ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    plural of forty form-of, plural
  2. 2
    The decade of the 1840s, 1940s, etc. plural, plural-only

    "My ma was born in the forties and my pa was born in the seventies."

  3. 3
    the time of life between 40 and 50 wordnet
  4. 4
    The decade of one's life from age 40 through age 49. plural, plural-only

    "They're both in their forties."

  5. 5
    the decade from 1940 to 1949 wordnet
Show 1 more definition
  1. 6
    The range between 40 and 49. plural, plural-only

    "What to wear when the weather is in the forties really depends on whether you're talking fahrenheit or celsius."

Adjective
  1. 1
    From or evoking the 41st through 50th years of a century (chiefly the 1940s). not-comparable

    "Two forties aircraft sat forgotten in the hangar until they were rediscovered by two trespassing teens."

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A sea area, in the northern part of the North Sea, where the depth of water is consistently forty fathoms

Synonyms

All synonyms
'40s1940s1940s40slong fortieslong forties

Example

More examples

"A man shouldn't be a pastor until he's in his forties."

Etymology

From forties, due to the dpth of the area.

Related phrases

Hungry Fortiesroaring fortiesnorth seasea area

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