moonlight
Americannoun
adjective
-
pertaining to moonlight.
-
illuminated by moonlight.
-
occurring by moonlight, or at night.
verb (used without object)
noun
-
Also called: moonshine. light from the sun received on earth after reflection by the moon
-
(modifier) illuminated by the moon
a moonlight walk
-
short for moonlight flit
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
moonlightsimple
-
moonlightssimple
-
have moonlightedperfect
-
has moonlightedperfect
-
am moonlightingprogressive
-
are moonlightingprogressive
-
is moonlightingprogressive
-
have been moonlightingperfect progressive
-
has been moonlightingperfect progressive
Past
-
moonlightedsimple
-
had moonlightedperfect
-
was moonlightingprogressive
-
were moonlightingprogressive
-
had been moonlightingperfect progressive
Future
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
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:
That meant some reflected moonlight from clouds in the lower atmosphere was present, but not enough to overwhelm the much fainter airglow signal.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 3, 2026
D-day, secretly known as Operation Overlord, was timed based on several factors, including the weather, the tides and the moonlight.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 29, 2026
Their rapid run up has also at times forced state insurance commissioners to moonlight as forensic accountants, teasing out company relationships.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 26, 2026
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
My mind goes to the old woman at the dock, holding the cane with those eyes made of moonlight.
From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer
Attorney Mark Lanier moonlights as a preacher, and it shows when he’s taking on the world’s most powerful companies.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 28, 2026
Catriona Byers is a historian who moonlights as a food stylist.
From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2025
He works as a dental assistant and moonlights as a DJ, and said he lost three cars and $15,000 worth of DJ equipment in the fire, among other belongings.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 2, 2023
In “Agent Elvis,” Presley — voiced by Matthew McConaughey — is still the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll but also moonlights as a government spy by night.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 10, 2023
Killian, a coal miner who moonlights as an emergency medical technician for the Healy Volunteer Fire Department, had a two- way radio on the Argo.
From "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer
He moonlighted as an Uber driver to land the lead role advising the ride-sharing company on its 2018 offering.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 10, 2026
He unwound from the restaurant rush by hiking through Door County’s forests and fishing in its waterways while continuing Taco María’s successful salsa macha mail-order business; Emilie moonlighted as a grant writer.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2025
He also moonlighted under assumed names at several radio stations in the Washington area.
From New York Times ● Jan. 23, 2024
In a recent interview with The Wall Street Journal, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said his most nightmarish experience with the company occurred when he moonlighted as an Uber delivery driver.
From Salon ● Aug. 22, 2023
Maybe Joe Becton, the new director of the Durham Human Relations Commission, moonlighted as a government informer.
From "The Best of Enemies" by Osha Gray Davidson
Commisso eventually got a job in commercial banking at Chase Manhattan, where his boss was unaware that he was moonlighting at a nightclub.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 20, 2026
The King, who seemed in festive form, joked with carol singers that they must be "moonlighting from the Royal Opera House" and teased reporters that they were not getting to test the drinks on display.
From BBC ● Dec. 18, 2025
Back in 2001, the English Premier League took that step and fans saw a drastic improvement once the referees no longer spent their days moonlighting as teachers or taxi drivers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 17, 2025
Announcin’ his latest moonlighting endeavor, Newsom told reporters, “I want to engage people that often I engage with in private and make public those conversations.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 12, 2025
Ill Patrolman Mancuso had tried a little moonlighting in his effort to apprehend someone, anyone for the sergeant.
From "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
