Meanings
nounsunset (countable and uncountable, plural sunsets)
plural sunsets
- countableuncountableThe moment each evening when the sun disappears below the western horizon.
at sunset
1 more example
’Twas sunset: when the sun will part There comes a sullenness of heart To him who still would look upon The glory of the summer sun.
1829, Edgar Allan Poe, “Tamerlane”, in Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane and Minor Poems - attributivecountableuncountableA set termination date.
The tax increase legislation included a sunset clause requiring renewal to prevent the tax increase from expiring.
- countableuncountableThe region where the sun sets; the west.
verbsunset (third-person singular simple present sunsets, present participle sunsetting, simple past and past participle sunsetted)
present singular third person sunsets · participle present sunsetting · participle past sunsetted · past sunsetted
- transitivebusinessTo phase out.
We’ll be sunsetting version 1.9 of the software shortly after releasing version 2.0 next quarter.
2 more examples
Last December, Yahoo announced plans to “sunset” more well-known services, including the pioneering social bookmarking service del.icio.us.
2011 April 19, Sumit Paul-Choudhury, “Digital legacy: The fate of your online soul”, in NewScientistHere’s what you need to know about Amazon’s decision to sunset its older e-readers and tablets, and what that means for you.
2026 April 9, “Got an Old Kindle? It Might Not Work Anymore. Here’s What to Do.”, in Wirecutter, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC
Synonyms & antonyms
Opposite
More synonyms by meaning
adjectiveof a declining industry or technology
Similar
adjectiveproviding for termination
Similar
nounthe time in the evening at which the sun begins to fall below the horizon
Similar
Opposite
Broader
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Middle Englishson-sett
- Englishsunset
From Middle English son-sett, Sonne set, equivalent to sun + set. In Gower's Confessio Amantis, before 1393.
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans sonsondergang
- sonsondergangtime of day
Arabic غُرُوب, مَغْرِب
- غُرُوب (ḡurūb)time of day
- مَغْرِب (maḡrib)time of day
- غُرُوب اَلشَّمْس (ḡurūb aš-šams)changes in color of sky at sunset
- خَاتِمَة (ḵātima)final period of life
- قَيَامَة (qayāma)final period of life
- خِتَامِي (ḵitāmī)attributively: of or relating to the final period of life
Basque arrats, ilunabar
- arratstime of day
- ilunabartime of day
- iluntzetime of day
- ilunsentitime of day
- eguzki-sartetime of day
Bengali সূর্যাস্ত, মাগরিব
- সূর্যাস্ত (śurjasto)time of day
- মাগরিব (magribo)time of day
Bulgarian залез, залез
- залез (zalez)time of day
- залез (zalez)final period of life
Catalan posta de sol, ocàs
- posta de soltime of day
- ocàstime of day
Chinese Mandarin 日落, 黃昏 /黄昏
- 日落 (rìluò)time of day
- 黃昏 /黄昏 (huánghūn)changes in color of sky at sunset
- 淘汰 (táotài)phase out
Czech západ slunce, západ slunce
- západ sluncetime of day
- západ sluncechanges in color of sky at sunset
Danish solnedgang, solnedgang
- solnedgangtime of day
- solnedgangchanges in color of sky at sunset
- alderens efterårfinal period of life
- udfasephase out
Dutch zonsondergang, zonsondergang
- zonsondergangtime of day
- zonsondergangchanges in color of sky at sunset
Esperanto sunsubiro, sunfalo
- sunsubirotime of day
- sunfalotime of day
Estonian päikeseloojang, päikeseloojak
- päikeseloojangtime of day
- päikeseloojaktime of day
- päikeseloojangchanges in color of sky at sunset
- päikeseloojakchanges in color of sky at sunset
- eluloojangfinal period of life
Finnish auringonlasku, illansuu
- auringonlaskutime of day
- illansuutime of day
- iltaruskochanges in color of sky at sunset
- auringonlaskufinal period of life
- iltaruskofinal period of life
- elämän ehtoofinal period of life
- iltaruskonattributively: of or relating to the final period of life
French coucher de soleil, crépuscule
- coucher de soleiltime of day
- crépusculechanges in color of sky at sunset
- crépusculefinal period of life
German Sonnenuntergang, Sonnenuntergang
- Sonnenuntergangtime of day
- Sonnenuntergangchanges in color of sky at sunset
- Abendrotchanges in color of sky at sunset
- Lebensabendfinal period of life
Greek δύση, ηλιοβασίλεμα
- δύση (dýsi)time of day
- ηλιοβασίλεμα (iliovasílema)time of day
- δύση (dýsi)final period of life
Hebrew שקיעה, שקיעה
- שקיעה (shkiá)time of day
- שקיעה (shkiá)changes in color of sky at sunset
Hindi सूर्यास्त
- सूर्यास्त (sūryāst)time of day
Hungarian naplemente, napnyugta
- naplementetime of day
- napnyugtatime of day
- alkonypírchanges in color of sky at sunset
- alkonyfinal period of life
- alkonyattributively: of or relating to the final period of life
- kivezetphase out
- megszüntetphase out
Icelandic sólsetur, sólarlag
- sólseturtime of day
- sólarlagtime of day
- sólfalltime of day
- sólseturchanges in color of sky at sunset
- sólarlagchanges in color of sky at sunset
- sólseturfinal period of life
Indonesian matahari terbenam, mentari benam
- matahari terbenamtime of day
- mentari benamtime of day
- mentari masuktime of day
- senjachanges in color of sky at sunset
- usia senjafinal period of life
Italian tramonto, crepuscolo
- tramontotime of day
- crepuscolotime of day
- occasotime of day
- tramontochanges in color of sky at sunset
- crepuscolochanges in color of sky at sunset
- tramontofinal period of life
Japanese 日没, 日の入り
- 日没 (nichibotsu)time of day
- 日の入り (hinoiri)time of day
- 夕焼け (yūyake)changes in color of sky at sunset
- 黄昏 (tasogare)changes in color of sky at sunset
- 黄昏 (tasogare)final period of life
Korean 해넘이, 황혼
- 해넘이 (haeneomi)time of day
- 황혼 (hwanghon)time of day
- 일락 (illak)time of day
- 저녁놀 (jeonyeongnol)changes in color of sky at sunset
- 황혼 (hwanghon)changes in color of sky at sunset
- 황혼 (hwanghon)final period of life
Latin crepusculum, occasus
- crepusculumtime of day
- occasustime of day
- crepusculumchanges in color of sky at sunset
- crepusculumfinal period of life
Latvian saulriets
- saulrietstime of day
Lithuanian saulėlydis, saulėlydis
- saulėlydistime of day
- saulėlydisfinal period of life
Māori kokomea
- kokomeachanges in color of sky at sunset
Norwegian solnedgang
- solnedgangtime of day
Polish zmierzch, zachód słońca
- zmierzchtime of day
- zachód słońcatime of day
- zachód słońcachanges in color of sky at sunset
- zmierzchfinal period of life
- zmierzchattributively: of or relating to the final period of life
Portuguese crepúsculo, pôr-do-sol
- crepúsculotime of day
- pôr-do-soltime of day
- pôr do soltime of day
- poentetime of day
- ocasotime of day
- sol-pôrtime of day
- crepúsculochanges in color of sky at sunset
- pôr do solchanges in color of sky at sunset
- crepúsculofinal period of life
Romanian apus, asfințire
- apustime of day
- asfințiretime of day
- crepuscultime of day
- apuschanges in color of sky at sunset
- crepusculchanges in color of sky at sunset
- declinfinal period of life
- apusfinal period of life
Russian захо́д со́лнца, зака́т
- захо́д со́лнца (zaxód sólnca)time of day
- зака́т (zakát)time of day
- заря́ (zarjá)time of day
- захо́д (zaxód)time of day
- захо́д со́лнца (zaxód sólnca)changes in color of sky at sunset
- зака́т (zakát)changes in color of sky at sunset
- заря́changes in color of sky at sunset
- зака́т (zakát)final period of life
Scottish Gaelic dol fodha na grèine, dol fodha na grèine
- dol fodha na grèinetime of day
- dol fodha na grèinechanges in color of sky at sunset
Spanish puesta del sol, puesta de sol
- puesta del soltime of day
- puesta de soltime of day
- puesta solartime of day
- ocasotime of day
- puesta del solchanges in color of sky at sunset
- puesta de solchanges in color of sky at sunset
- puesta solarchanges in color of sky at sunset
- ocasochanges in color of sky at sunset
- ocasofinal period of life
Swahili machweo
- machweotime of day
Swedish solnedgång, solnedgång
- solnedgångtime of day
- solnedgångchanges in color of sky at sunset
Tagalog sibsib
- sibsibtime of day
Thai เพล้โพล้, ตะวันตก
- เพล้โพล้time of day
- ตะวันตก (dtà-wan-dtòk)time of day
- ตอนค่ำtime of day
- ตกค่ำtime of day
Turkish gün batımı
- gün batımıtime of day
Ukrainian за́хід со́нця
- за́хід со́нця (záxid sóncja)time of day
Vietnamese hoàng hôn
- hoàng hôntime of day
Welsh machlud haul, machlud
- machlud haultime of day
- machludtime of day
- machlud haulchanges in color of sky at sunset
- machludchanges in color of sky at sunset
- machlud haulfinal period of life
- machludfinal period of life
Yiddish זונפֿאַרגאַנג, זונפֿאַרגאַנגען
- זונפֿאַרגאַנג (zunfargang)time of day
- זונפֿאַרגאַנגען (zunfargangen)time of day
- זון־אונטערגאַנג (zun-untergang)time of day
- זון־אונטערגאַנגען (zun-untergangen)time of day
Cite this entry
APA
sunset. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sunset
MLA
“sunset.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sunset. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “sunset,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sunset.
Source: sunset on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.