Skip to main content
day blindness

day blindness

7.9
A condition that makes it hard to see in bright sunlight
  • noun
  • Specialized
translation icon : hemeralopía
  • He avoided going outside during midday because his day blindness made everything painfully bright.

Examples

  • Doctors diagnosed her with day blindness after she mentioned struggling to see outdoors.

  • Doctors diagnosed her with day blindness after she reported difficulty seeing clearly in bright sunlight.

  • People with day blindness often wear tinted glasses to cope with sunlight.

  • His day blindness makes it difficult to drive.

  • Many people with day blindness struggle in bright sunlight.

  • He often wears sunglasses outside due to his day blindness, which makes bright light uncomfortable.

  • People diagnosed with day blindness may experience blurred vision when exposed to direct sunlight.

Synonyms

hemeralopia
vsday blindness
  • Specialized
9.9

Cannot see clearly in bright light such as sunlight

is the plain everyday expression used by non specialists about the same condition

Antonyms

night blindness
  • Specialized
3 4.7

Trouble seeing in low light or at night

How Affected

day blindness
  • Specialized
7.9
photophobia
  • Specialized
1 9.2

Surface Forms

day blindness singular

Morphology

day + blindness

The meaning 'unable to see clearly in bright light' is directly derivable from combining 'day' (the period of daylight) with 'blindness' (loss of sight); a learner who knows both words will naturally interpret this as blindness that occurs during the day. The formation follows a common and productive pattern (X + blindness = lack of sight in X) found across languages, so the expression is transparently compositional for B1 learners.

Etymology

Day blindness comes from the simple image of being blind during the day. Doctors called it this when people could see in low light but not in bright sunlight, so it means 'unable to see clearly in bright light'.