What does "overnight" mean?
An item delivered or completed overnight.
Overnight
/əʊvə(ɹ)ˈnaɪt/ adj, adv, noun, verb
adj, adv, noun, verb ·Moderate ·College level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: An item delivered or completed overnight.
- Grammar: overnight is listed as adj, adv, noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: accommodation, all-night, at night, by morning.
- Useful contrasts: day, day trip, day visit.
- Usage evidence: The stock has gone down overnight.
How to use "overnight"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "overnight" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "overnight" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "overnight" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "overnight" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "overnight" is acting as adj, adv, noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "accommodation" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "overnight", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 An item delivered or completed overnight.
"Have you looked at the overnights yet?"
- 2 An overnight stay, especially in a hotel or other lodging facility.
"Some will also have to work less coveted schedules like overnights and weekends just to start building their career and demo tape."
- 3 Viewership ratings for a television show that are published the morning after it is broadcast, and may be revised later on. in-plural
"Word spread that Barney was on his way out to the location and that the Nielsen overnights had been terrific, or why else would he come."
- 4 The fore part of the previous night; yesterday evening. obsolete
"Pardon me, madam: If I had given you this at overnight, She might have been o'erta'en"
Verb
- 1 To stay overnight; to spend the night. intransitive
"His visits to Paris (which he had not allowed his son to visit until he was a teenager) became less frequent too: he never over-nighted there, for example, after 1744."
- 2 To send something for delivery the next day. US, transitive
"We can overnight you the documents for signature."
Adjective
- 1 Occurring between dusk and dawn. not-comparable
"The overnight ferry docked at 10 a.m."
- 2 Complete before the next morning. not-comparable
"Don't expect overnight delivery."
- 3 For which participants stay overnight. not-comparable
"They sent their kids to overnight camp."
Adjective
- 1 lasting, open, or operating through the whole night wordnet
Adverb
- 1 During or throughout the night, especially during the evening or night just past. not-comparable
"Let it run overnight and we'll check on it in the morning."
- 2 In a very short (but unspecified) amount of time. figuratively, not-comparable
"The change seemed to happen overnight."
Adverb
- 1 during or for the length of one night wordnet
- 2 happening in a short time or with great speed wordnet
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
"The stock has gone down overnight."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "overnight"?
Common synonyms include: accommodation, all-night, at night, by morning, frost over overnight, in a single night.
How do you use "overnight" in a sentence?
The stock has gone down overnight.
How do you pronounce "overnight"?
Pronounced /əʊvə(ɹ)ˈnaɪt/.
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English overnyght, from Old English ofer niht (“through the night, overnight”), equivalent to over + night. Verbal use (late 19th c.) may have been influenced by German übernachten (16th c.), though it could also have developed independently. Compare also Dutch overnachten (“to overnight”), Middle Low German ȫvernachten (“to overnight”), West Frisian oernachtsje (“to overnight”), Saterland Frisian uurnoachtje (“to overnight”).