sunset
Americannoun
adjective
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(of an industry, technology, etc.) old; declining.
sunset industries.
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of, relating to, or characteristic of a sunset law.
to add sunset restrictions to a bill.
noun
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the daily disappearance of the sun below the horizon
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the atmospheric phenomena accompanying this disappearance
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Also called: sundown. the time at which the sun sets at a particular locality
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the final stage or closing period, as of a person's life
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of sunset
Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400; see origin at sun, set
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
At Burnt Hill Farm, a hilltop winery in Clarksburg, Md., a suburb an hour outside of Washington, D.C., the best table is any table, 45 minutes before sunset.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
They are most active during daylight hours and usually bite just after sunrise and around sunset.
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
As a result, Vancouver’s latest sunrise will be at 9:07 a.m., but in return, its earliest sunset will be at 5:13 p.m. instead of 4:13 p.m.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026
Its nautically-themed bar regularly draws locals at sunset for Negronis.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026
She put it on a piece of stroked-smooth driftwood in front of her mother’s picture and, since it was nearly sunset now anyway, turned on the laptop.
From "Nim’s Island" by Wendy Orr
San Francisco would see its earliest sunsets at 5:51 p.m. in late November and early December, where it’s now 4:51 p.m. on standard time.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026
But another Nantucket exists too: one of quaint cobblestone streets, sunsets that have to be seen to be believed and secluded beaches where you can spend hours without seeing another soul.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 20, 2026
By the 1870s his work—often passively comfortable with the standard paysage, or horizontal format, and entranced by distant spectacles like sunsets or mountaintops—began to seem sedate to serious viewers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 1, 2026
The installation puts people inside that spectral array of color to capture the essence of those sunrises and sunsets.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 10, 2026
The front porch was for warm days and sunsets, she said, and the glassed-in porch was for rainy times.
From "Homesick" by Jean Fritz
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
