twilight

noun

twi·​light ˈtwī-ˌlīt 

often attributive

1

: the light from the sky between full night and sunrise or between sunset and full night produced by diffusion of sunlight through the atmosphere and its dust

also : a time of twilight

2

a

: an intermediate state that is not clearly defined

lived in the twilight of neutrality

—Newsweek

b

: a period of decline

Synonyms

• dark
• dusk
• shadows
• night
• darkness
• blackness
• black
• gloom
• midnight

Examples of twilight in a Sentence

The sun set and twilight fell.

stumbled around the twilight of the shuttered room, unable to see where she was going

Recent Examples on the Web

By early November, Bootes will pretty much already be below the horizon at the end of evening twilight. —Mike Lynch, Twin Cities, 7 Sep. 2025

The pairing glimmers low in the east an hour before sunrise, fading quickly in brightening twilight. —Jamie Carter, Forbes.com, 1 Sep. 2025

Her child looks up at the aeroplane in the sky, flying through dusk, through twilight, flying through the beginning of the end of the day. —Deborah Levy, Harpers Magazine, 20 Aug. 2025

Try looking for it when the twilight sky is not so bright, roughly an hour or more before sunrise. —Joe Rao, Space.com, 18 Aug. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing twilight

• twilight glow
• twilight world
• twilight zone

Rhymes for twilight

• affright
• airtight
• albite
• alight
• alright
• aplite
• aright
• bainite
• birthright
• bobwhite
• bornite
• bullfight

Kids Definition

twilight

noun

twi·​light ˈtwī-ˌlīt 

: the period or the light from the sky between full night and sunrise or between sunset and full night