996

A form of 9-9-6 — A schedule with 9am to 9pm workdays and a six-day workweek (usually from Monday to Saturday).

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Meanings

noun996 (uncountable)
  1. alternativeuncountableAlternative spelling of 9-9-6.

    “I’d heard about 996, but these guys don’t even do 996,” he says. “They’re working 16-hour days.”

    2026 February 17, Arielle Pardes, quoting unnamed startup employee, “12-hour days, no weekends: the anxiety driving AI’s brutal work culture is a warning for all of us”, in The Guardian, →ISSN, archived from the original on 17 Feb 2026
    1 more example

    Take China's ‘996’ practice. It's one that Chinese billionaire and Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma actively endorses. ‘I personally think that 996 is a huge blessing,’ posted Ma on Alibaba's WeChat account. ‘How do you achieve the success you want without paying extra effort and time?’

    2020, Noreena Hertz, chapter 7, in The Lonely Century, Hodder & Stoughton, →ISBN
Cite this entry
APA

996. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/996

MLA

“996.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/996. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “996,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/996.

Source: 996 on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.