Basic Details
Word: Midnight
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Twelve o'clock at night, the middle of the night.
Antonyms: midday, noon
How to Spell Midnight
Syllables: mid - night
Tricky part: Mid has a single d, and night keeps its silent gh. It is one word.
Watch out for: midnigt, middnight, midnigth
Memory tip: Mid means middle, as in midway and midfield. Midnight is the middle of the night, so write mid and then the whole word night with its gh.
Idioms and Phrases
- burn the midnight oil: to study or work until late at night Example: "Before the board exams my sister burnt the midnight oil every day."
Usage Examples
Example 1: The New Year fireworks began exactly at midnight.
Example 2: We were woken at midnight by the barking of the street dogs.
Example 3: The library stays open until midnight during exam week.
Fun Fact
India became independent at the stroke of midnight between 14 and 15 August 1947, when Jawaharlal Nehru gave his Tryst with Destiny speech.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Makeup
Only one of these compound words is spelt correctly. Choose it.
Choose the correctly spelt compound word.
a) midnight
b) daybrake
c) sunsett
d) nightfal
Show answer
a) midnight. Midnight is right; the others should be daybreak, sunset and nightfall.
Word Connection
Choose the word opposite in meaning to midnight as used in the sentence:
The train from Howrah was due to arrive at midnight, so we packed plenty of snacks for the long wait.
a) dusk
b) twilight
c) evening
d) midday
Show answer
d) midday. Midnight is twelve at night and midday is twelve in the day; dusk, twilight and evening all come before midnight.
Word Cookie
Find the extra letter in the word:
middnight
a) g
b) i
c) d
d) h
Show answer
c) d. Mid has one d, as in midway.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. If you burn the midnight oil, you ____.
a) light lamps for a festival
b) wake up long before sunrise
c) work or study late into the night
d) cook dinner very late at night
Show answer
c) work or study late into the night
2. On the 24-hour clock, midnight is written as ____.
a) 06:00
b) 18:00
c) 12:00
d) 00:00
Show answer
d) 00:00
