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moonlit

American  
[moon-lit] / ˈmunˌlɪt /

adjective

  1. lighted by the moon.

moonlit British  
/ ˈmuːnlɪt /

adjective

  1. illuminated by the moon

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of moonlit

First recorded in 1820–30; moon + lit 1

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Fashionable portraits and moonlit landscapes back home, then success with candlelit interiors and portraits of Wright’s friends in the Lunar Society of Enlightenment scientists.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 14, 2026

A car crashes at a dangerous bend on a clifftop road in Anglesey, North Wales, on a moonlit night in January 1909.

From BBC • Sep. 23, 2024

The cover illustrates the field guns embedded in the mountain with a moonlit ocean and a couple of fighter planes buzzing the area.

From Washington Times • Nov. 23, 2023

Aster does pull off some haunting visual flourishes, especially an image of a moonlit ocean that suddenly fades into a rapidly filling bathtub — a striking encapsulation of just how tiny Beau’s world is.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 14, 2023

One great coil of vapour went whirling up, twisting round and round Orthanc, until it looked like a tall peak of cloud, fiery underneath and moonlit above.

From "The Two Towers" by J. R. R. Tolkien

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.