moonlight
Americannoun
adjective
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pertaining to moonlight.
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illuminated by moonlight.
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occurring by moonlight, or at night.
verb (used without object)
noun
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Also called: moonshine. light from the sun received on earth after reflection by the moon
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(modifier) illuminated by the moon
a moonlight walk
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short for moonlight flit
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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moonlightsimple
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moonlightssimple
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have moonlightedperfect
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has moonlightedperfect
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am moonlightingprogressive
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are moonlightingprogressive
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is moonlightingprogressive
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have been moonlightingperfect progressive
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has been moonlightingperfect progressive
Past
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moonlightedsimple
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had moonlightedperfect
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was moonlightingprogressive
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were moonlightingprogressive
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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
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
In an alley behind Tony’s Restaurant, two dogs share a heaping plate of spaghetti and meatballs under the moonlight.
From Salon ● Feb. 14, 2026
“You start to appreciate things more, I think, when your whole life is shaken up,” Kaslow said, looking out at the moonlight glimmering across the marina.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 17, 2025
Long, thick spiderwebs hide in the corners, silver in the moonlight.
From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer
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
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
Except this is a "bogan" version translated by Ander Louis, the pen name of a Melbourne IT worker who moonlights as a writer.
From BBC ● Nov. 14, 2025
Sharon Lowell, a lead equipment operator, moonlights as a beekeeper on her San Juan Island property.
From Seattle Times ● May 26, 2024
“Right. I suppose he moonlights as a boxer?”
From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros
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 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
While Brailsford moonlighted with the starters, true freshman Landen Hatchett often operated as UW’s second-team center.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 15, 2023
He moonlighted as a security guard for a jewelry company.
From "Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing" by Ted Conover
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
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
He wears two watches — one on each wrist, a habit he has been heard saying he picked up moonlighting as a high school lacrosse referee.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2025
The 24-year-old is moonlighting at Eurovision from his day job at the Vienna State Opera, where he's had roles in The Magic Flute and Von der Liebe Tod.
From BBC ● May 16, 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.
