matinee
noun
Did you know?
Soiree: A Fancy Evening Party
In English, soiree means “a fancy evening affair.” The word comes directly from French and was formed from the word soir, meaning “evening” or “night.” The French make a subtle distinction between soir, which refers explicitly to the time of day following sunset, and soirée, which refers to some duration of time, usually translated as “evening.” English speakers don’t use different words, but we understand the difference between “I’ll see you tomorrow evening” and “We spent the evening playing cards”—one refers to a time of day and one refers to the passage of time. From the idea of a period of time evolved the second meaning of soirée: a party that takes place during the evening. As is typical for words that have been borrowed from modern French, soiree in English signifies the fancy version of a simple “party”: an evening event that is formal or refined in some way.
A third sense of soirée in French, “an evening performance,” has a parallel with matinée, from matin “morning. ” Matinée literally means “morning performance” in French but has come to mean “daytime or afternoon performance” in English. The “evening performance” meaning of soirée has not been adopted by English. Our Unabridged of 1934, however, did record both a verb soiree (meaning, presumably, “to hold or attend an evening party”) and the variant swarry, “so spelled in mimicry of mispronunciation.”
Soiree can be spelled in English using the acute accent as soirée, but is usually spelled without it.
Examples of matinee in a Sentence
Caroline Ritzie, Cincinnati Enquirer, 21 Jan. 2026
Saturday’s matinee will include a pregame tribute to Christen Press, a two-time world champion who announced her retirement last fall.
—Kevin Baxter, Los Angeles Times, 20 Jan. 2026
Overall, the Lightning head into their matinee against the Stars 29-13-4, good for 62 points and first place in an Atlantic Division race in which the top five teams were separated by all of six points entering play Saturday.
—Tom Layberger, Forbes.com, 18 Jan. 2026
Appearing on Late Night With Seth Meyers last night, Coon told the talk host that the trouble started during the Wednesday, January 7, matinee performance during a scene in which Coon sprays fake blood up her nose to simulate a nose bleed from a violent encounter.
—Greg Evans, Deadline, 16 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for matinee
Cite this Entry
“Matinee.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/matinee. Accessed 28 Jan. 2026.
Copy CitationKids Definition
matinee
noun
