sixties

S1I1X8T1I1E1S1

noun

The decade of one's life from age 60 through age 69.

“Highs in the mid sixties.”

Less commonScrabble 14

Meanings

sixties1

noun

alternative 'sixties

  1. pluralplural of sixty
nounsixties pl (plural only)

alternative 'sixties

  1. pluralplural onlyAlternative letter-case form of Sixties (The decade of the 1860s, 1960s, etc.)

    I remember living through the sixties.

    1 more example

    During the sixties [1860s] the Sabbatarians were particularly active in their attacks on Sunday excursions, and this had an effect both on the companies and the public.

    1954 June, R. Marchant, “Early Excursion Trains”, in Railway Magazine, page 427
  2. pluralplural onlyThe decade of one's life from age 60 through age 69.

    She retired at some point in her sixties, I don't recall exactly when.

  3. pluralplural onlyratestemperatureThe range between 60 and 69 Fahrenheit.

    Highs in the mid sixties.

adjectivesixties (not comparable)

alternative 'sixties

  1. not comparableFrom or evoking the 61st through 70th years of a century (chiefly the 1960s).

    She coughed as she exhaled. Sixties weed had been nowhere near this strong.

    1 more example

    Historians do not rely on single bits of evidence, but are always seeking corroboration, qualification, correction. These novels, set in context, are in themselves interesting fragments of sixties culture.

    1993, Arthur Marwick, “Six Novels of the Sixties — Three French, Three Italian”, in Journal of Contemporary History, volume 28, number 4, →DOI, page 588

Sixties2

nounSixties pl (plural only)

alternative sixties

  1. pluralplural onlyThe decade of the 1860s, 1960s, etc. (but especially the 1960s)

    2017 https://www.independent.co.uk/news/long_reads/sixties-decade-was-it-good-sexual-revolution-swinging-london-hippies-culture-music-art-germaine-a7946506.html When asked what the Sixties were all about, most people reply: peace, love, happiness.

    3 more examples

    Occasionally this was a direct result of network attitudes — as in the fifties with integration, the sixties with Vietnam, or the seventies with Watergate.

    1981, Channels of Communications, page 22

    Both Burnham and the president were middle-aged baby boomers with an investment in their Sixties youth[…]

    2016, Oliver Gruner, Screening the Sixties, →ISBN, page 179

    Counterculture expert James Riley delves into the darkness of the Sixties to sort fact from psychedelic fiction.

    2019 https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/discussion/did-the-sixties-dream-die-in-1969

    Synonyms: 1960s, '60s, 60s

  2. USpluralplural onlyA period in American history centered around the counterculture movement of the late 1960s.

    But the sixties no more ended in 1969 than they began in 1960.

    2011, Rob Kirkpatrick, 1969: The Year Everything Changed, page xvii
    2 more examples

    The 1960s and the first half of the 1970s—an era known as "the sixties" to most observers—has perhaps generated more mythology than any other period in American history.

    1999, Andrew E. Hunt, “Introduction”, in The Turning: A History of Vietnam Veterans Against the War, →ISBN, page 1

    It is relatively easy to choose some event (Kent State, Altamont, Watergate, and the fall of Saigon are favorites) as the end of the Sixties[…]

    2013, James J. Farrell, The Spirit of the Sixties, page 17

Synonyms & antonyms

nounThe decade of the 1860s, 1960s, etc. (but especially the 1960s)

More synonyms by meaning

nounthe decade from 1960 to 1969

Similar

nounthe time of life between 60 and 70

Similar
mid-sixties
Also see

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Translations

Chinese Mandarin 六十年代, 60年代
  • 六十年代 (liùshí niándài)decade of the 1960s
  • 60年代 (liùshí niándài)decade of the 1960s
Dutch jaren zestig, jaren 60
  • jaren zestigdecade of the 1960s
  • jaren 60decade of the 1960s
  • jaren 1960decade of the 1960s
Esperanto 1960-aj jaroj
  • 1960-aj jarojdecade of the 1960s
Finnish kuusikymmentäluku
  • kuusikymmentälukudecade of the 1960s
French années soixante, années 60
  • années soixantedecade of the 1960s
  • années 60decade of the 1960s
German sechziger Jahre, Sechziger
  • sechziger Jahredecade of the 1960s
  • Sechzigerdecade of the 1960s
Hungarian hatvanas évek
  • hatvanas évekdecade of the 1960s
Indonesian tahun enam puluhan
  • tahun enam puluhandecade of the 1960s
Japanese 六十年代, 60年代
  • 六十年代 (rokujū-nendai)decade of the 1960s
  • 60年代 (rokujū-nendai)decade of the 1960s
Korean 육십년대, 60년대
  • 육십년대 (yuksimnyeondae)decade of the 1960s
  • 60년대 (yuksimnyeondae)decade of the 1960s
Polish lata sześćdziesiąte, lata 60.
  • lata sześćdziesiątedecade of the 1960s
  • lata 60.decade of the 1960s
Spanish años sesenta, sesentas
  • años sesentadecade of the 1960s
  • sesentasdecade of the 1960s
Swedish sextiotalet, sextiotal
  • sextiotaletdecade of the 1960s
  • sextiotaldecade of the 1960s
Tagalog dekada sesenta
  • dekada sesentadecade of the 1960s
Welsh trigeiniau, chwedegau
  • trigeiniaudecade of the 1960s
  • chwedegaudecade of the 1960s
Cite this entry
APA

sixties. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sixties

MLA

“sixties.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sixties. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “sixties,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sixties.

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