Meanings
- pluralplural onlyThe very early morning, just after midnight, when most people are asleep.
Cologne Hauptbahnhof is reached in the small hours, and the traveller new to postwar Germany is spared the sight of the devastated city.
1949 September and October, “The "Nord Express"”, in Railway Magazine, page 3362 more examples
Then follows a quiet period during the small hours, marked by the departure of the other newspaper trains and some van trains, and by the arrival of the mail train from Weymouth.
1962 April, J. N. Faulkner, “Summer Saturday at Waterloo”, in Modern Railways, page 265...the writer conjured up a dystopian fantasy more berserk than anything you might find yourself listening to in the small hours at the Stone Circle.
2017 June 26, Alexis Petridis, “Glastonbury 2017 verdict: Radiohead, Foo Fighters, Lorde, Stormzy and more”, in the GuardianSynonyms: wee hours, wee small hours, ungodly hours, postmidnight
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe very early morning, just after midnight, when most people are asleep.
Origin
From the small number used to identify such hours (e.g. 1 o'clock, 2 o'clock).
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Catalan matinada
- matinadavery early morning
Chinese Mandarin 凌晨
- 凌晨 (língchén)very early morning
Dutch kleine uurtjes
- kleine uurtjesvery early morning
Esperanto la tre malfruaj horoj
- la tre malfruaj horojvery early morning
Finnish aamuyö, pikkutunnit
- aamuyövery early morning
- pikkutunnitvery early morning
French petites heures
- petites heuresvery early morning
German frühe Morgenstunden
- frühe Morgenstundenvery early morning
Indonesian dini hari
- dini harivery early morning
Polish pogańska godzina, nieludzka pora
- pogańska godzinavery early morning
- nieludzka poravery early morning
Russian за по́лночь, ни свет ни заря́
- за по́лночь (za pólnočʹ)very early morning
- ни свет ни заря́ (ni svet ni zarjá)very early morning
Spanish altas horas
- altas horasvery early morning
Swedish småtimmarna
- småtimmarnavery early morning
Tagalog des-oras
- des-orasvery early morning
Cite this entry
small hours. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/small%20hours
“small hours.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/small%20hours. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “small hours,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/small%20hours.
Source: small hours on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.