early evening
Before full dark
Early evening is the transitional period between late afternoon and nighttime, typically spanning roughly 5 to 7 or 8 PM.
The exact hours shift with seasons and cultural context—early evening arrives earlier in winter, later in summer.
It often marks the end of the workday and the beginning of domestic or social time: We'll meet for drinks in the early evening.
- duskDimming after sundown
- twilightLight after sunset
- sunsetDay yielding to darkness
- magic hourSoft light after sunrise/before sunset
- gloamingPoetic term for dusk
nightfall · long shadows · golden hour · golden light · dimming · lamplit · homecoming · dinner · dinner time · suppertime · shadows · streetlights · cricket · cicadas · cooling · purple · amber · fading
- daypartsdawn, sunrise, morning, forenoon, midmorning
- eveningsdinner, supper, dinner time, prime time, primetime
- nighttimemidnight, nightfall, night sky, nighttime, starry sky
- time expressionsnow, today, soon, tomorrow, later
- snack timesmid-morning, late morning, afternoon, mid-afternoon, coffee break
time of day
early eveningearly morning
First hours of day
dawn · daybreak · sunrise · first light · crack of dawn