seventy-eight

noun

sev·​en·​ty-eight ˌse-vən-tē-ˈāt How to pronounce seventy-eight (audio)
ˌse-bᵊm-,
-dē-ˈāt
1
: a number that is one more than 77 see Table of Numbers
2
: a phonograph record designed to be played at 78 revolutions per minute
usually written 78
seventy-eight adjective
seventy-eight pronoun, plural in construction

Examples of seventy-eight in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
But Lynch, who died last week, at seventy-eight, made films in which every cheerful surface seemed to obscure an eerie reality. Joshua Rothman, The New Yorker, 25 Jan. 2025 Iconoclastic director David Lynch, who with his darkly surreal films brought the avant-garde shrieking and scratching into the mainstream, has died at the age of seventy-eight. News Desk, Artforum, 16 Jan. 2025 Three hundred and seventy-eight fans, the vast majority English, were arrested under German police powers to prevent further trouble following minor outbreaks of disorder. Richard Sutcliffe, The Athletic, 13 July 2024 The speed limit was fifty miles per hour; according to a Tulsa police officer, who pulled him over, Keith was going seventy-eight. Rachel Monroe, The New Yorker, 5 Aug. 2024 Whatever the reason—gold lust, bad luck, a malediction—the Prince de Conty continues to bring ill fortune upon those in its ambit, even two hundred and seventy-eight years after its demise. Lauren Collins, The New Yorker, 22 July 2024 The left won the most seats, at a hundred and seventy-eight, followed by Ensemble, Macron’s centrist alliance (a hundred and fifty), and then the far-right National Rally (a hundred and forty-two). Isaac Chotiner, The New Yorker, 9 July 2024 Joe Biden is eighty-one; Donald Trump is seventy-eight; half of the House and nearly three-quarters of the Senate was born before 1965. E. Tammy Kim, The New Yorker, 27 June 2024 National Parks Are for Everyone The majority of national park visitors—roughly seventy-eight percent—are white? JSTOR Daily, 24 June 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1659, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of seventy-eight was in 1659

Dictionary Entries Near seventy-eight

Cite this Entry

“Seventy-eight.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/seventy-eight. Accessed 2 Feb. 2025.

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