nightly
Americanadjective
adjective
-
happening or relating to each night
-
happening at night
adverb
Etymology
Origin of nightly
before 900; Middle English; Old English nihtlīc. See night, -ly
Explanation
Nightly things happen on a regular basis, every single night. Your nightly exercise routine and sponge bath are good examples of this. You can use nightly as an adjective or adverb, to describe something that occurs every night. The sun sets nightly, and most people eat dinner nightly and climb into bed nightly. Your exercise regimen might include nightly sit ups, and your dog may require nightly walks around the block. The Old English root of nightly is niht, which means both "night" and "darkness."
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.
But some residents aren’t so enthused with the nightly howling, saying that it’s disruptive and keeps them from getting a full night’s sleep.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
Meanwhile, Channel 5 will screen the opening ceremony live and also run a nightly highlights show.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
What outsiders now call resilience was, for us, simply the nightly practice of keeping one another going.
From Salon ● Jul. 20, 2026
On the water, teenagers jostle for control of an inflatable mattress -- the kind taken down sleep on in underground metro stations during Russia's nightly barrages.
From Barron's ● Jun. 30, 2026
It was his nightly routine, fifty push-ups to keep his body in “fighting shape,” as he put it.
From "As Brave As You" by Jason Reynolds
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.
