Synonyms

Christmas Eve

American

noun

the evening or the day preceding Christmas.

Christmas Eve British

noun

the evening or the whole day before Christmas Day

"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 Christmas Eve

Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400

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:

Christmas Eve

A short wilderness jaunt with Pommerville on a pleasant Christmas Eve afternoon might have been an attempt to lift his spirits.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 29, 2026

This will be followed by a Christmas Eve Cold Supermoon on 24 December.

From BBC ● Oct. 23, 2026

But Gwilym died on Christmas Eve at just 11 days old.

From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2026

Flying on Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve or Christmas Day tends to be cheaper than flying on the days surrounding the holidays.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 28, 2026

And how, on Christmas Eve, could he possibly be better than Santa?

From "Shine!" by J.J. and Chris Grabenstein

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