night owl

[ nahyt oul ]

noun

, Informal.

1. a person who often stays up late at night; nighthawk.

night owl

noun

1. informal.
   a person who is or prefers to be up and about late at night

Word History and Origins

Origin of night owl¹

First recorded in 1585–95

Idioms and Phrases

A person who habitually stays up late and is active at night, as in You can call her after midnight, for she's a night owl . This colloquial term, originally used in the late 1500s for an owl that is active at night, was transferred to nocturnal human beings in the mid-1800s.