Phrase guide

broad daylight

noun · 2 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: /bɹɔːd ˈdeɪlaɪt/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • General-American: /bɹɔd ˈdeɪˌlaɪt/
  • cot-caught-merger: /bɹɑd ˈdeɪˌlaɪt/

1

noun

Meaning 1

Abundant natural illumination in daytime, producing clear visibility; hence, daytime.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: open daylight

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Chiefly preceded by in: the full view of observers during the day.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: figuratively, uncountable

Examples

  • The bank robbery took place in broad daylight.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From broad (“(archaic) to the full extent”) + daylight.

Across languages

Translations

13 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Chinese Mandarin: 大白天 (dàbáitiān) — abundant natural illumination in daytime
  • Chinese Mandarin: 青天白日 (qīngtiānbáirì) — abundant natural illumination in daytime
  • Chinese: 大白天亮 (6du-baq-thi-lian) — abundant natural illumination in daytime
  • Finnish: kirkas päivänvalo — abundant natural illumination in daytime
  • Japanese: 白昼 (hakuchū) — abundant natural illumination in daytime
  • Japanese: 昼日中 (hiruhinaka) — abundant natural illumination in daytime
  • Japanese: 真昼 (mahiru) — abundant natural illumination in daytime
  • Japanese: 真っ昼間 (mappiruma) — abundant natural illumination in daytime
  • Māori: maruawatea — abundant natural illumination in daytime
  • Lower Sorbian: běły źeń — abundant natural illumination in daytime
  • Tamil: பட்டப்பகல் (paṭṭappakal) — abundant natural illumination in daytime
  • Vietnamese: sáng bạch — abundant natural illumination in daytime
  • Vietnamese: thanh thiên bạch nhật — abundant natural illumination in daytime