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crepuscular

[kri-puhs-kyuh-ler]
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adjective
  1. of, relating to, or resembling twilight; dim; indistinct.
  2. Zoology. appearing or active in the twilight, as certain bats and insects.
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Origin of crepuscular

First recorded in 1660–70; crepuscule + -ar1
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

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

Historical Examples

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • Crepuscular, kre-pus′kū-lar, adj. of or pertaining to twilight—also Crepus′culous.

British Dictionary definitions for crepuscular

crepuscular

adjective
  1. of or like twilight; dim
  2. (of certain insects, birds, and other animals) active at twilight or just before dawn
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Word Origin

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.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper