night owl

[ nahyt-oul ]

/ ˈnaɪt ˌaʊl /

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See synonyms for: night owl / night owls on Thesaurus.com

noun Informal.

a person who often stays up late at night; nighthawk.

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Origin of night owl

First recorded in 1585–95

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use night owl in a sentence

People watch night soaps because the genre allows them to believe in a world where people just react off their baser instincts.
‘Empire’ Review: Hip-Hop Musical Chairs with an Insane Soap Opera Twist|Judnick Mayard|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
On Dec. 22, 1799, Sands told her cousins that she would be leaving to elope with a fellow boarder named Levi Weeks that night.
New York’s Most Tragic Ghost Loves Minimalist Swedish Fashion|Nina Strochlic|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
As of Thursday night, the brothers remained on the loose, last seen in northern France.
U.S. Spies See Al Qaeda Fingerprints on Paris Massacre|Shane Harris, Nancy A. Youssef|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
At the moment, the only chance I get is when I go do Late Night with Seth Meyers.
Coffee Talk with Fred Armisen: On ‘Portlandia,’ Meeting Obama, and Taylor Swift’s Greatness|Marlow Stern|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST

Are you bi-coastal now, between Portlandia and Late Night with Seth Meyers?
Coffee Talk with Fred Armisen: On ‘Portlandia,’ Meeting Obama, and Taylor Swift’s Greatness|Marlow Stern|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
The night wore on, and the clock downstairs was striking the hour of two when she suddenly awakened.
The Homesteader|Oscar Micheaux
Without preface, he abruptly asked, what had been told him of the Duke of Wharton's behaviour the preceding night.
The Pastor's Fire-side Vol. 3 of 4|Jane Porter
Nevertheless the evening and the night passed away without incident.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. CCCXXXIX. January, 1844. Vol. LV.|Various
While they were doing this, he assembled the officers around him, and the meaning of our night march was explained to us.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. CCCXXXIX. January, 1844. Vol. LV.|Various
Last night I saw Jean Baptiste lying prone upon the floor, and knew that she had beaten him down to it, and he had not resisted.
The Homesteader|Oscar Micheaux

British Dictionary definitions for night owl

night owl

night hawk

noun

informal a person who is or prefers to be up and about late at night

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

Other Idioms and Phrases with night owl

night owl

A person who habitually stays up late and is active at night, as in You can call her after midnight, for she's a night owl. This colloquial term, originally used in the late 1500s for an owl that is active at night, was transferred to nocturnal human beings in the mid-1800s.

night owl

Origin of night owl

Words related to night owl

How to use night owl in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for night owl

night hawk

Other Idioms and Phrases with night owl