crepuscular

[kri-puhs-kyuh-ler]

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adjective

of, relating to, or resembling twilight; dim; indistinct.

Zoology. appearing or active in the twilight, as certain bats and insects.

Origin of crepuscular

First recorded in 1660–70; crepuscule + -ar¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for crepuscular

dim, misty, murky, shadowy, overcast, somber, cloudy, dingy, gloomy, black, drab, foggy, dull, darkened, funereal, dreary, dismal, forlorn, bleak, opaque

Examples from the Web for crepuscular

Contemporary Examples of crepuscular

This crepuscular conflict requires a new vocabulary and a familiarity with a new type of history.
America's Terrorism Amnesia
Lee Siegel
January 5, 2010

Historical Examples of crepuscular

Through the crepuscular whiteness the trees hung in blotted masses.
The Reef
Edith Wharton
It is blended twilight of intellect and sensation; it is the crepuscular of thought.
The Life of Francis Thompson
Everard Meynell
She lay white, and as if suspended, in the crepuscular atmosphere of sunset mingling with the ashy gleam of the vast anchorage.
Within the Tides
Joseph Conrad
Some species of foxes, however, are twilight prowlers, and one or two of the fennecs are also crepuscular.
The Young Yagers
Mayne Reid
Crepuscular, kre-pus′kū-lar, adj. of or pertaining to twilight—also Crepus′culous.
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 1 of 4: A-D)
Various

British Dictionary definitions for crepuscular

crepuscular

adjective

of or like twilight; dim

(of certain insects, birds, and other animals) active at twilight or just before dawn

Word Origin for crepuscular

C17: from Latin crepusculum dusk, from creper dark

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

Word Origin and History for crepuscular

adj.

figurative use from 1660s; literal use from 1755, from Latin crepusculum "twilight, dusk," from creper "dusky," of unknown origin. Especially of evening twilight.