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

For the past 15 years, Hansard had organised an annual Christmas Eve busking gig to raise money for homelessness charities.

From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026

Set during Christmas Eve, it followed Dougal as he travels from Northampton to New York for his father's wedding.

From BBC ● May 10, 2026

In one typical example, a state-media-linked account on China’s do-everything app WeChat shared a video based on bodycam footage released by police in Middletown, Ohio, from a Christmas Eve 911 call in 2024.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 19, 2026

We humans eat seven fishes on Christmas Eve, samosas on Eid al-Fitr and maple cookies behind the moon.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 9, 2026

"Merry Christmas Eve, Jones," I finally say, wanting the conversation to end.

From "We Are Okay" by Nina LaCour

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