arvo

American

[ahr-voh] / ˈɑr voʊ /

noun

Australian Slang.

afternoon.

arvo British

/ ˈɑːvəʊ /

noun

informal afternoon

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of arvo

First recorded in 1930–35; af(ternoon) + -o, with voicing of -f-; ar is r-less speaker's representation of low back vowel; cf. humorously dialectal spelling 'arf for Cockney pronunciation of half

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.

Once known on a global scale for skulling a tinny in the arvo and having no dramas because she’ll be right, Australia’s lexicon, it appears, is changing.

From The Guardian • May 26, 2014

It'll be more Buster Douglas if he floors the hot favourite this arvo, but we shall see.

From BBC • Jun. 20, 2011

I surf morning and arvo, and every time on a freshy.

From Time Magazine Archive

The convergence of Ulster opinion reminds me of an old line, which fitly illustrates the position of the Irish malcontent party— Heu mihi! quam pingui macer est mihi taurus in arvo.

From Ireland as It Is And as It Would be Under Home Rule by Buckley, Robert John

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023