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

• black
• blackness
• candlelight
• dark
• darkness
• dusk
• gloaming
• gloom
• murk
• night
• semidarkness
• shade
• shadows
• umbra

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

And Jupiter, which will be nothing more than a bright, white dot against the bright twilight background, will appear only 5 degrees higher. —Joe Rao, Space.com, 27 May 2025

From summer through October, the rooftop transforms into a cinematic wonderland, screening cult classics against the twilight sky. —Malik Peay, USA Today, 24 May 2025

Listen to this article 2 min The NBA’s greatest-player-of-all-time debate has raged on as LeBron James has continued to excel in the twilight of his NBA career. —Ryan Canfield, FOXNews.com, 22 May 2025

Outdoor rooms unfurl beside their canopy—terraces for twilight suppers, a future pool deck pitched toward the lake breeze. —Spencer Elliott, Forbes.com, 22 May 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