Meanings
alternative post-midnight
- not comparableAfter midnight, but before dawn.
Near-synonym: predawn
1 more example
Hussein's being taken to his execution from his cell in an American military detention center in the postmidnight chill of Saturday had a surreal and even cinematic quality.
2007 January 1, John F. Burns, “U.S. Questioned Iraq on the Rush to Hang Hussein”, in New York TimesSynonyms: wee hour, predawn, wee hours, small hours, wee small hours, early hours
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveAfter midnight, but before dawn.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*pós
- Proto-Indo-European*pósti
- Proto-Italic*posti
- Old Latinposte
- Latinpost
- Englishpost-
- Englishmidnight
- Englishpostmidnight
Translations
French après-minuit
- après-minuitpart of the day between midnight and dawn
German Nachmitternacht
- Nachmitternachtpart of the day between midnight and dawn
Italian pomezzanotte
- pomezzanottepart of the day between midnight and dawn
Polish po północy
- po północypart of the day between midnight and dawn
Portuguese madrugada
- madrugadapart of the day between midnight and dawn
Spanish madrugada
- madrugadapart of the day between midnight and dawn
Cite this entry
postmidnight. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/postmidnight
“postmidnight.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/postmidnight. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “postmidnight,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/postmidnight.
Source: postmidnight on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.