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Glite Dictionary
🦅 A night bird 🌙 A night person
nighthawk

nighthawk

1 8.0
A person who prefers being awake late at night
  • noun
  • /ˈnaɪtˌhɔk/
translation icon : noctámbulo
  • Petra had been a nighthawk from childhood, before the deep blue midnights of her artist days, when lying awake at night had been inspirational.

And he shook my hand, and the Nighthawk shook my hand.

Examples

  • You have to call me Nighthawk.

    Step Brothers (2008)

  • Now you are likely thinking, "Great, Nighthawk, but what does this have to do with the trustees?"

    Blog text (17)

  • "Where are the reporters of yesteryear?" he muttered, "the nail-biting, acerbic, alcoholic nighthawk bastards who truly knew how to write?" Quoyle brought over his copy.

    Fiction book (2002)

  • As a true nighthawk, she often worked on her paintings in the quiet hours of the night.

  • Mark enjoys the solitude of the night and is a natural nighthawk, often staying awake until dawn.

  • Being a nighthawk, he prefers attending late-night concerts instead of morning events.

Synonyms

nighter
vsnighthawk
  • Informal
28 8.5

A person who stays awake all night to study, work, or have fun

describes usual late activity preference, not necessarily full all-night wakefulness
night owl
vsnighthawk
10 3.4

A person who stays up late and does things at night

is the same habit of preferring late activity
night person
vsnighthawk
4 4.1

A person who likes to be awake and active at night

is a general lifestyle preference for late hours
creature of the night
vsnighthawk
2 6.0

A person who prefers to be awake and active at night

is the simple preference for late activity rather than special nocturnality
nightbird
vsnighthawk
1 8.9

A person who likes to be awake and active late at night

is the broad preference term rather than an event action

Surface Forms

nighthawk singular
nighthawks plural

Morphology

nighthawk = night + hawk (semi-transparent) = night + hawk

The compound suggests something associated with nighttime and a hawk-like creature or person, but the specific meaning 'a person who stays active late at night' is metaphorical rather than a standard predictable compound.

Etymology

The word nighthawk is made from night and hawk, suggesting a 'hawk of the night'. A helpful way to remember the person meaning is to think of someone who is 'awake late at night' and active like that bird.