Word
Definitions
01time of day
B2 · Upper Intermediate Uncountable noun
n. the time of day when the sun is below the horizon and the sky is starting to get dark.
n. the period of time between daylight and darkness, specifically when the sun is below the horizon but its rays still illuminate the atmosphere.
“We went for a walk in the garden during the long summer twilight.”
“The hikers struggled to find the trail markers in the deepening twilight, eventually deciding to set up camp before total darkness fell.”
02faint light
B2 · Upper Intermediate Uncountable noun
n. the soft, dim light that you see in the sky just after the sun goes down.
n. the diffused light from the sky during the period before sunrise or after sunset.
“The mountains looked purple in the soft twilight of the evening.”
“The photographer captured the cathedral's silhouette against the ethereal twilight, using a long exposure to pull detail from the shadows.”
Synonyms
Antonyms
03a final period
C1 · Advanced Countable noun Literary
n. the final part of something, like a career or a period of history, when it is starting to fade.
n. a period of decline or the final stages of something once great or powerful.
“The famous actor spent the twilight of his life living quietly by the sea.”
“In the twilight of the empire, administrative corruption and economic instability became increasingly difficult for the central government to manage.”
04dimly lit
C1 · Advanced Literary
adj. describing something that is dimly lit or related to the time of dusk.
adj. pertaining to or resembling the light conditions of dusk; often used to describe obscure or intermediate states.
“They sat in the twilight room, watching the shadows grow longer on the wall.”
“The novel explores the twilight world of international espionage, where loyalties are never clear and the truth is always obscured.”
Real-World Examples
“And during those strange twilight hours, bedfellows could share a level of informality and casual conversation that was hard to achieve during the day.” Etymology
PIE word *dwóh₁ From Middle English twilight, twyelyghte, equivalent to twi- (“double, half-”) + light, literally ‘second light, half-light’. Cognate to Scots twa licht, twylicht, twielicht (“twilight”), Low German twilecht, twelecht (“twilight”), Dutch tweelicht (“twilight, dusk”), German Zwielicht (“twilight, dusk”). Compare Old English twēone lēoht (“twilight”).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Idioms
The word in film
Twilight · 2008 · Drama
- Directed by:
- Catherine Hardwicke
- Starring:
- Taylor Lautner, Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson
Director Catherine Hardwicke's romantic fantasy focuses on a teenage girl who falls in love with a vampire. The title describes the specific time of day when these supernatural creatures can safely come out into the light.
Domain
- Exam level
- CambridgeCambridgeCambridge English QualificationsThe exam suite from Cambridge University Press & Assessment, from A1 Movers up to C2 Proficiency. The benchmark names double as CEFR labels.B2 FirstIELTSIELTSInternational English Language Testing SystemThe 0–9 band test co-owned by the British Council, IDP, and Cambridge. Used for university entry, work, and migration.5.5–6.5TOEFL iBTTOEFL iBTTest of English as a Foreign Language, Internet-Based TestETS's academic English test, the standard route for US university admissions. Scored 0–120, with a 1–6 scale since 2026.1–6 scale: 4.0–4.572–94TOEICTOEICTest of English for International CommunicationETS's workplace English test, big in Japan and Korea. Listening & Reading scores 10–990 and tops out at C1.785–944
- Frequency
- Frequent
- Level
- B2 · Upper Intermediate
- Updated
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QR code
englishreference.com/q/twilight
「カタカナ語」 data: JMdict (EDRDG), CC BY-SA 4.0