Meaning & use
twilight
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Meanings
noununcountable
The soft, dim light in the sky just after sunset or before sunrise.
Grammar: Uncountable; say 'the twilight' but not 'a twilight'.
Patterns
- in the twilight
- at twilight
The garden looked beautiful in the twilight.
We walked home at twilight, when the sky was pink and gray.
Bats often fly at twilight.
nounsingularfigurative
The final, fading period of something.
Grammar: Usually used with 'the' and 'of': the twilight of something.
Patterns
- the twilight of something
- in the twilight of something
He spent the twilight of his career teaching young players.
The company is now in the twilight of its influence.
She wrote her best novels in the twilight of her life.
Common combinations
- at twilight
- The streetlights come on at twilight.
- in the twilight
- The mountains were barely visible in the twilight.
- the twilight of something
- The twilight of the empire was a time of change.
Synonyms and how they differ
- dusk
- Dusk is the time just after sunset; twilight also includes the time before sunrise.
- dawn
- Dawn is the time just before sunrise; twilight can refer to either dawn or dusk.
Opposites
Commonly confused: twilight or twilit?
twilight vs twilit
Twilit is an adjective meaning 'lit by twilight'; twilight is the noun.
Practice
What does 'twilight' mean in the sentence: 'She wrote her best novels in the twilight of her life'?
Choose one answer.
Here 'twilight' is used figuratively to mean the last, fading part of her life. It does not mean morning, middle, or beginning.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “twilight”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.