evening

1 of 2

noun

eve·​ning ˈēv-niŋ 

often attributive

1

a

: the latter part and close of the day and early part of the night

b

chiefly Southern US and Midland US : afternoon

c

: the period from sunset or the evening meal to bedtime

2

: the latter portion

3

: the period of an evening's entertainment

evening

2 of 2

adjective

: suitable for formal or semiformal evening social occasions

evening dress

evening clothes

Synonyms

Noun

• afternoon
• age
• autumn
• twilight

Examples of evening in a Sentence

Noun

We're going out to dinner this evening.

He devotes his evenings to charity work.

They left on the evening of July 26.

We're looking forward to an evening at the theater.

several fun-filled evenings of poker

He met her in the evening of his life.

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Farther up, on Observatory Hill, tall cryptomeria trees were silhouetted in the darkening evening, and down in the valleys, lights winked on like reflections of the planets and stars appearing in the sky. —Literary Hub, 27 Oct. 2025

Another suspect was arrested later in the evening in the Seine-Saint-Denis suburb north of Paris. —Eleanor Beardsley, NPR, 26 Oct. 2025

Adjective

Perhaps the football gods are just evening things out. —Jeff Fedotin, Forbes, 11 Dec. 2024

The best times are evening or early morning, when the wasps aren’t active. —Jeanne Huber, Washington Post, 15 Mar. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English, from Old English ǣfnung, from ǣfnian to grow toward evening, from ǣfen evening; akin to Old High German āband evening and perhaps to Greek epi on

First Known Use

Noun

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Adjective

1782, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing evening

• evening class
• evening dress
• evening gown
• evening grosbeak
• evening news
• evening prayer
• evening primrose
• evening star
• good evening
• make a day/night/morning/afternoon/evening of it
• the evening star
• the other day/night/morning/afternoon/evening

Kids Definition

evening

noun

eve·​ning

ˈēv-niŋ

1

: the final part of the day and early part of the night

2

: a late part

the evening of life