twilight
/'twailait/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
Noun:
- The diffused light from the sky when the sun is below the horizon: The soft, often colored light visible after sunset and before sunrise, caused by the refraction and scattering of sunlight in the atmosphere.
- The time of day immediately following sunset or preceding sunrise: The period of the day characterized by this soft light; dusk or dawn.
- A condition or period of decline, obscurity, or ambiguity: A state or phase following a peak, where things become less clear, distinct, or powerful.
Adjective:
- Lighted by or as if by twilight: Characterized by the soft, dim light of twilight; dusky.
Usage Examples
Noun:
- The sky was painted in beautiful shades of orange and purple during the twilight.
- He enjoyed taking long walks in the twilight.
- The company is now in the twilight of its dominance in the market.
Adjective:
- We sailed down the twilit river as the stars began to appear.
- The room was filled with a twilight glow from the setting sun.
Advanced Usage
- "in the twilight of": In the final, declining stages of something.
- The actor gave some of his best performances in the twilight of his career.
- "twilight zone": A situation or state characterized by ambiguity, uncertainty, or being between two distinct conditions. (Note: This is a common compound phrase derived from the core meaning).
- The legal status of the territory existed in a twilight zone between independence and occupation.
Variants and Related Words
- Twilit (adj.): Another form of the adjective meaning "lighted by twilight."
- The twilit woods were quiet and peaceful.
- Dusk (n.): The darker stage of twilight, especially in the evening.
- Gloaming (n.): A literary term for twilight, especially evening twilight.
Synonyms
- Dusk: The darker part of evening twilight.
- Gloaming: Evening twilight (literary).
- Nightfall: The onset of night; dusk.
- Decline: A period of decrease or deterioration (for the figurative sense).
Related Phrases
- Twilight years: The final years of a person's life.
- She remained active and engaged throughout her twilight years.
- Twilight sleep: A state of light anesthesia (a specific medical/technical compound term).
Idioms
- "The twilight of the gods": A phrase often referring to a prophesied end of a pantheon or era, derived from mythology (e.g., Norse ).
- The novel depicts a technological apocalypse as a kind of twilight of the gods.
Adjective
- lighted by or as if by twilight
- The dusky night rides down the sky/And ushers in the morn-Henry Fielding
- the twilight glow of the sky
- a boat on a twilit river
Noun
- a condition of decline following successes
- in the twilight of the empire
- the diffused light from the sky when the sun is below the horizon but its rays are refracted by the atmosphere of the earth
- the time of day immediately following sunset
- he loved the twilight
- they finished before the fall of night