Definition

Noun: - Dusk, twilight, nightfall: The time of day immediately following sunset, when the sky is growing dark but it is not yet completely night.

Usage

• Describes a specific time of day: Used to indicate the period between sunset and full darkness.
• Often used in descriptive or poetic contexts: Commonly appears in literature and everyday descriptions of the evening.

Usage Examples

• As a noun indicating time:
  • Trời đã sẩm tối. (It was already dusk.)
  • Chúng tôi về nhà lúc sẩm tối. (We returned home at dusk.)
  • Sẩm tối, không khí trở nên mát mẻ. (At dusk, the air becomes cool.)

Advanced Usage

• "Giờ sẩm tối": The dusk hour.
  • Giờ sẩm tối là lúc nhiều loài chim bay về tổ. (The dusk hour is when many birds fly back to their nests.)
• "Trời sẩm tối dần": The sky is gradually getting dark.
  • Trời sẩm tối dần, chúng tôi phải bật đèn lên. (The sky was gradually getting dark, so we had to turn on the lights.)

Variants and Related Words

• Chạng vạng: (Noun) Twilight, gloaming. A near-synonym, often used interchangeably with , though can sometimes refer to both dawn and dusk.
• Hoàng hôn: (Noun) Sunset. Specifically refers to the time the sun sets and the visual phenomenon, while refers to the darker period immediately after.
• Tối: (Noun/Adjective) Night / Dark. Refers to full darkness or the state of being dark.

Synonyms

• Dusk: The darker stage of twilight.
• Twilight: The soft, diffused light from the sky when the sun is below the horizon.
• Nightfall: The onset of night; the beginning of darkness.
• Gloaming: (Literary) Twilight, dusk.

Notes on Meaning

• Primary Meaning: The core meaning is the period of fading light after sunset. It is a single, specific time concept.
• Nuance: emphasizes the process of darkening and the onset of night, carrying a slightly more poetic or atmospheric tone than the simple word (night/dark).

noun

1. dark, dusk