白昼(はくちゅう)

Compound of 白(はく) ('white; bright') and 昼(ちゅう) ('daytime'). A slightly literary word meaning 'bright daytime.' Almost always carries the nuance of 'even though it's the middle of the day (and people can see),' rather than neutrally referring to the afternoon.

Usage

Most commonly appears in crime and scandal reporting: 白昼(はくちゅう)の犯行(はんこう) ('crime committed in broad daylight'). The adverbial form 白昼(はくちゅう)堂々(どうどう)と ('brazenly, in broad daylight') is a fixed expression emphasizing the shameless boldness of an act. For neutral reference to the middle of the day, 昼間(ひるま) or 日中(にっちゅう) is more natural.

Common collocations

• 白昼(はくちゅう)の犯行(はんこう): crime committed in broad daylight
• 白昼(はくちゅう)堂々(どうどう)と: brazenly, in broad daylight
• 白昼(はくちゅう)の出来事(できごと): an incident in broad daylight
• 白昼(はくちゅう)に起(お)こる: to occur in broad daylight
• 白昼夢(はくちゅうむ): daydream; waking dream

Similar words

• 昼間(ひるま): daytime — plain, everyday word; no dramatic nuance
• 日中(にっちゅう): during the day; daylight hours — neutral, common in weather and schedule contexts
• 真昼(まひる): high noon; midday — the bright middle of the day, more poetic
• 白日(はくじつ): the bright sun; open day — very literary; appears in 白日(はくじつ)のもとに ('out in the open')

Register

Slightly literary and written. In everyday speech, 真昼間(まっぴるま) ('in the middle of the day') conveys a similar 'despite being daytime' nuance more colloquially.