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.

Example Sentences

So then, when he’s here, I stay up later because he’s such a night owl and I hate that there’s all these hours I miss hanging out with him, so I try and stay up a little later.

From Los Angeles Times

The new album’s title may hint at sunshine and waking hours, but make no mistake, Yoakam is a night owl, a man for whom work begins around dusk and often stretches into dawn.

From Los Angeles Times

I’m a huge night owl and I stay up until 2 in the morning watching TV shows and movies.

From Los Angeles Times

I’m a huge night owl and I stay up until 2 in the morning watching TV shows and movies.

From Los Angeles Times

It’s late at night — Carr is a longtime night owl who does most of his work after it gets dark — and the author, who now has a long white beard, is thinking about grief and dying — subjects that linger over his new nonfiction book, “My Beloved Monster,” and loom over what might be the final months of his life.

From Los Angeles Times