twilight

/ˌtwaɪˈlaɪt/

/ˈtwaɪlaɪt/

Other forms: twilights

The time just after sunset, when the light is half-faded, but the world is not yet totally dark, is twilight. If you are between two states, like asleep and awake, that can also be called a twilight moment.

Twilight comes just before the night falls. The early light, just before sunrise, is also technically called "twilight" but most people call it "dawn." The prefix twi- might be a clue that twilight happens twice a day, or it could mean "half," as in the half-light of this time. Something that is declining can be described as twilight — like the twilight of the trend of wearing plastic clogs favored by nurses and chefs.

Definitions of twilight

1. noun

   the time of day immediately following sunset
   “he loved the twilight”

   synonyms: crepuscle, crepuscule, dusk, evenfall, fall, gloam, gloaming, nightfall

   types:

   night

   a shortening of nightfall

   type of:

   hour, time of day

   clock time
2. noun

   the diffused light from the sky when the sun is below the horizon but its rays are refracted by the atmosphere of the earth
   type of:

   light, visible light, visible radiation

   (physics) electromagnetic radiation that can produce a visual sensation
3. noun

   a condition of decline following successes
   “in the twilight of the empire”

   type of:

   declination, decline

   a condition inferior to an earlier condition; a gradual falling off from a better state
4. adjective

   lighted by or as if by twilight
   “the twilight glow of the sky”

   synonyms: dusky, twilit

   dark

   devoid of or deficient in light or brightness; shadowed or black