half-light

American  

[haf-lahyt, hahf-] / ˈhæfˌlaɪt, ˈhɑf- /

noun

1. light that is about half its customary brightness, or that is partially dimmed or obscured.

   the half-light of early dawn; a room in half-light.

---

half-light British  

noun

1. a dim light, as at dawn or dusk

---

Etymology

Origin of half-light

First recorded in 1615–25

Example Sentences

It was impossible to tell what was happening just offshore in the half-light.

From BBC • Apr. 24, 2024

Statues of Charlie Brown, Lucy and the ever-gleeful Snoopy stood amid redwoods in the half-light beyond the old Kress building.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 21, 2022

Somaliland’s half-light existence as an unrecognized state has complicated its pandemic response.

From Seattle Times • Feb. 28, 2022

The time period is that mystical half-light of history when Scandinavia was little more than scattered Norse villages; when wisdom was woven with superstition much as the land is interlaced with fjords.

From New York Times • Jan. 7, 2022

You saw them as your eyes adjusted themselves to the half-light.

From "The Sun Also Rises" by Ernest Hemingway

Related Words

• dusk
• sunset