nighttime

Language: en

🇺🇸 /ˈnaɪˌttaɪm/

📖 Definitions

  1. noun
    The period of time during which it is night; the hours of darkness between sunset and sunrise.
  2. adjective
    Occurring, active, or relating to the night.

🔗 Details

Word forms

uncountable

Collocations

nighttime hoursnighttime routinenighttime activitiesnighttime skynighttime temperaturesat nighttime

Derivatives

nightnightlynightfall

Synonyms

nightnightfalldarknight hours

Antonyms

daytimedaylight

Commonly confused

night
EN: 'Night' is more general and versatile (noun, adjective, exclamation); 'nighttime' specifically refers to the period or duration of night and is more formal.
night-time
EN: 'Night-time' is a hyphenated variant sometimes used as an adjective (e.g., 'night-time raid'), but 'nighttime' as one word is the standard modern spelling.

Spelling tips

EN: Write 'nighttime' as one word; the hyphenated 'night-time' is an older variant, and 'night time' as two words is nonstandard.

💬 Examples

  1. The city takes on a completely different character at nighttime.

  2. She preferred nighttime walks when the streets were quiet and cool.