Phrase guide

bright and early

adv · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˌbɹaɪt‿n̩ ˈɜːli/
  • General-American: /ˌbɹaɪt‿n̩ ˈɜɹli/
  • Australia: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ɜː(ɹ)li

1

adv

Meaning 1

(Very) early in the morning.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: idiomatic

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: at the break of dawn, at the crack of dawn, first thing

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From bright (“in a bright manner: in good spirits; cheerfully, vivaciously”) + and + early.

Across languages

Translations

25 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Azerbaijani: səhərin gözü açılmamış — (very) early in the morning
  • Dutch: voor dag en dauw — (very) early in the morning
  • Finnish: aikaisin aamulla — (very) early in the morning
  • French: à l'aube — (very) early in the morning
  • French: à l'heure du laitier — (very) early in the morning
  • French: au chant du coq — (very) early in the morning
  • French: au petit matin — (very) early in the morning
  • French: aux aurores — (very) early in the morning
  • French: de bon matin — (very) early in the morning
  • French: de bonne heure — (very) early in the morning
  • French: de grand matin — (very) early in the morning
  • German: in aller Frühe — (very) early in the morning
  • Greek: πρωί πρωί (proḯ proḯ) — (very) early in the morning
  • Japanese: 夙に (tsutoni) — (very) early in the morning
  • Macedonian: ра́но на́утро (ráno náutro) — (very) early in the morning
  • Macedonian: изу́трина (izútrina) — (very) early in the morning
  • Polish: białym świtem — (very) early in the morning
  • Polish: bladym świtem — (very) early in the morning
  • Portuguese: cedinho — (very) early in the morning
  • Spanish: de mañana — (very) early in the morning
  • Spanish: tempranito — (very) early in the morning
  • Swedish: i ottan — (very) early in the morning
  • Swedish: i arla morgonstund — (very) early in the morning
  • Swedish: vara uppe med tuppen — (very) early in the morning
  • Welsh: ben bore — (very) early in the morning