English edit

Alternative forms edit

Etymology edit

Calque of Japanese 失われた10年 (ushinawareta juu-nen).

Noun edit

lost decade (plural lost decades)

  1. A period of economic stagnation, originally referring to Japan in the 1990s (later extended to the 2000s and sometimes the 2010s).
    • 2023 September 23, Leo Lewis, “It takes a village”, in FT Weekend, Life & Arts, page 2:
      Japan's stagnant “lost decades” of the 1990s and 2000s, while relatively comfortable for millions of Japanese and even enviable to other countries around the world, have left an indelibly negative mark.

Further reading edit