Eighties
Part of speech: noun
Definition: The decade of the 1880s, 1980s, etc. The decade of the 1980s. The decade of the 1880s. The decade of one's life from age 80 through age 89.
Example sentence: My work with AIDS patients started right at the beginning of the epidemic, totally unplanned and spontaneous, as all my work had proceeded in the previous two decades, if it were not already my whole life-style! In the early eighties, we knew very little about this peculiar disease.
1980s
Part of speech: noun
Definition: The decade that included the years 1980 to 1989. Also abbreviated as "the '80s."
Example sentence: There was a time period where I was obsessed with the rivalry between the Lakers and the Celtics in the 1980s.