宵(よい)

A literary and traditional word for the early part of the night, roughly from dusk until midnight. While not common in casual modern conversation, it appears frequently in literature, poetry, and set expressions. It carries a refined, somewhat nostalgic tone.

Common collocations

• 宵(よい)の口(くち): early evening; the beginning of the night
• 宵(よい)の明星(みょうじょう): the evening star (Venus)
• 宵(よい)闇(やみ): darkness of early night
• 宵(よい)祭(まつ)り: the eve of a festival; preliminary festival
• 宵越(よいご)しの金(かね): money kept overnight (in the proverb about Edo-era spendthrift culture)

Common expressions

• 宵越(よいご)しの金(かね)は持(も)たない: never hold on to money overnight — a saying about the free-spending spirit of old Edo (Tokyo)

Similar words

• 夕方(ゆうがた): evening — the more common everyday word for the period around sunset
• 夕暮(ゆうぐ)れ: dusk; twilight — the transitional period when the sun sets
• 夜(よる): night — the general word for nighttime; 宵(よい) refers specifically to the earlier part