sunset

[ suhn-set ]

noun

1. the setting or descent of the sun below the horizon in the evening.
2. the atmospheric and scenic phenomena accompanying this.
3. the time when the sun sets.
4. the close or final stage of any period.

adjective

1. (of an industry, technology, etc.) old; declining:

   sunset industries.

2. of, relating to, or characteristic of a sunset law:

   to add sunset restrictions to a bill.

sunset

/ ˈsʌnˌsɛt /

noun

1. the daily disappearance of the sun below the horizon
2. the atmospheric phenomena accompanying this disappearance
3. Also calledsundown the time at which the sun sets at a particular locality
4. the final stage or closing period, as of a person's life

Word History and Origins

Origin of sunset¹

Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400; sun, set

Example Sentences

Comic and actor Chaplin, who was born in London, chose the Tudor Revival style to create an ersatz English village at Sunset and La Brea when he built his own movie studio complex starting in 1917.

From Los Angeles Times

Lloyd’s “Sunset Blvd.,” by contrast, blasts away with impunity to create a vastly different experience — a kinetic multimedia concert, in which Andrew Lloyd Webber’s music and Don Black and Christopher Hampton’s lyrics are freed from the procedural nature of Black and Hampton’s book.

From Los Angeles Times

In “Sunset Blvd.,” based on Billy Wilder’s 1950 film, the camera is undeniably king.

From Los Angeles Times

In this reimagining of “Sunset,” you don’t need to depend on Cecil B. DeMille for your big closeup.

From Los Angeles Times

Tom Francis plays Joe Gillis, the down-on-his-luck screenwriter, who gets caught in the web of Norma Desmond’s spider lair on Sunset Boulevard.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• dusk
• nightfall
• sundown
• twilight