midnight sun

American

[mid-nahyt suhn] / ˈmɪdˌnaɪt ˈsʌn /

noun

the sun visible at midnight in Arctic and Antarctic regions during their summer months.

midnight sun British

noun

the sun visible at midnight during local summer inside the Arctic and Antarctic circles

"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 midnight sun

First recorded in 1855–60

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:

midnight sun

“From the outset the midnight sun had skewed the case,” Ms. Stevens recalls.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026

Around this time, areas towards the North Pole experience "midnight sun".

From BBC ● Jun. 19, 2024

The tight-knit town of 230 people exists because of and for tourism in the months of the midnight sun.

From National Geographic ● Oct. 20, 2023

LONGYEARBYEN, Norway — It was early April, and while the midnight sun had not yet arrived on the remote archipelago of Svalbard, darkness had begun its annual four-month retreat from the world’s northernmost town.

From New York Times ● May 19, 2022

At Annoatok the midnight sun is first seen on April 23.

From My Attainment of the Pole by Cook, Frederick A.

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