moonlight
Americannoun
adjective
-
pertaining to moonlight.
-
illuminated by moonlight.
-
occurring by moonlight, or at night.
verb (used without object)
-
moonlights,
present (3rd person singular)
-
moonlighted,
past participle, past
-
moonlighting
present participle
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:
Because the New Moon also arrives on Aug. 12, moonlight will not interfere, creating ideal dark conditions for spotting meteors.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 5, 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
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
Bright moonlight can make it more difficult to see meteors and other objects in the night sky.
From BBC ● Dec. 12, 2025
Expose the egg to the moonlight for at least three hours, then await the results.
From "Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher" by Bruce Coville
Mets fans, always a rational bunch, attributed the turnaround to Grimace throwing out the first pitch at a game and a journeyman infielder who moonlights as a Latin pop singer by the name of Candelita.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
Our everyman is Ben Reilly — played by the incomparable Nicolas Cage, making his live-action television debut — a private investigator who moonlights as the city’s only superhero, the Spider.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 13, 2026
Catriona Byers is a historian who moonlights as a food stylist.
From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2025
The show features some high-profile names in supporting roles, including Cyndi Lauper as a Broadway usher who moonlights as a private investigator and Marc Maron as the empanada shop’s landlord.
From New York Times ● Jul. 5, 2023
“Right. I suppose he moonlights as a boxer?”
From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros
He also moonlighted as a techno DJ, performing under the moniker Santa Militia at prominent nightclubs in London and promoting himself as having played at major venues from Bogotá to Buenos Aires.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 23, 2026
Jimmy Kimmel also received warm reviews in his fourth outing as host, leaving him one away from matching another late-night star who moonlighted at the Oscars, Johnny Carson.
From New York Times ● Mar. 11, 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
While Brailsford moonlighted with the starters, true freshman Landen Hatchett often operated as UW’s second-team center.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 15, 2023
So, I moonlighted as a concierge at the Marriott Hotel and sold lingerie at Nordstrom.
From "The Freedom Writers Diary" by The Freedom Writers
Some didn’t even sell insurance full-time, moonlighting from jobs in real estate or other fields.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 29, 2026
Meanwhile, he is considering moonlighting as a delivery driver.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 7, 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
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.
