sundowner

/'sʌn,daunə/

Thân thiện

A couple enjoys a sundowner on the hotel terrace.

Definition

1. Noun:
   • A drink taken at sundown: A sundowner is an alcoholic beverage, often a cocktail, consumed in the early evening, typically at or around sunset.
   • A tramp who habitually arrives at sundown: Historically, especially in Australian and South African contexts, a sundowner is a vagrant or itinerant worker who arrives at a homestead or station at sunset, seeking food and lodging for the night.

Usage Examples

• Noun (Drink):
  • After a long day on safari, we enjoyed a gin and tonic as a sundowner on the veranda.
  • The hotel bar is famous for its signature sundowner cocktail.
• Noun (Tramp):
  • The farmer was wary of sundowners, knowing they might ask for a meal and a place to sleep.
  • In the old outback stories, the sundowner was a common but often unwelcome visitor.

Advanced Usage

• Cultural Context: The term "sundowner" as a drink is strongly associated with colonial and safari traditions in Africa and other regions, representing a social ritual at day's end.
• Historical Context: As a term for a vagrant, "sundowner" implies a specific strategy of arriving too late to be expected to work that day but in time to receive hospitality.

Variants and Related Words

• Sundown (n): The time in the evening when the sun disappears below the horizon; sunset.
• Sundowning (n): In medical contexts, a state of confusion or agitation occurring in the late afternoon or evening, often associated with dementia.

Synonyms

• For the drink: Evening drink, cocktail, aperitif.
• For the tramp: Drifter, itinerant, vagrant, swagman (Australian).

Related Phrases

• To have a sundowner: To partake in the ritual of having an evening drink.
  • Let's have a sundowner to watch the sunset over the ocean.
• Sundowner session: A social gathering for drinks at sunset.
  • The beach resort hosts a daily sundowner session for guests.

Học thuật

Noun

1. a drink taken at sundown
2. a tramp who habitually arrives at sundown