moonlight

American  

[moon-lahyt] / ˈmunˌlaɪt /

noun

1. the light of the moon.

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adjective

1. pertaining to moonlight.

2. illuminated by moonlight.

3. occurring by moonlight, or at night.

verb (used without object)

moonlighted, moonlighting

1. to work at an additional job after one's regular, full-time employment, as at night.

moonlight British  

/ ˈmuːnˌlaɪt /

noun

1. Also called: moonshine.  light from the sun received on earth after reflection by the moon

2. (modifier) illuminated by the moon

   a moonlight walk

3. short for moonlight flit

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verb

1. informal (intr) to work at a secondary job, esp at night, and often illegitimately

Other Word Forms

• moonlighter noun

Etymology

Origin of moonlight

1325–75; 1950–55 moonlight for def. 5; Middle English monelight

Explanation

Moonlight is literally the light we can see shining from the moon, but to moonlight is to work a second job. Get it? You have to work in the moonlight because there aren’t enough hours in the day. Moonlight is the reflection of the sun off the moon's surface — a clear sky and a full moon provide brilliant moonlight. Smugglers hate moonlight. If you moonlight, you work a second job, and it doesn’t have to be at night. If your history teacher also works as a mascot for a baseball team, he moonlights as a dancing bear. As a verb, it used to mean “commit crimes at night,” but now just means “to work a second job.”

Example Sentences

The audience rehashed its hunches, they circled potential suspects, they stared at a static image of a horrific crime scene, awash in twinkling moonlight.

From Slate • Feb. 23, 2026

As many as four nights a week, Parsons uses the family’s Toyota hybrid to moonlight as a DoorDash driver, making between $15 and $20 an hour.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 21, 2026

I’m not a hate-watcher of the show or its star — I, too, wish to moonlight as a domestic doyenne.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 23, 2025

The peak coincides with the new moon so viewing conditions will be ideal with no moonlight pollution.

From BBC • Sep. 12, 2025

She just stood there in the moonlight with a warm little smile on her face, staring out over the river, her black eyes glowing like black haws in the morning dew.

From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls