Standard Lemma guide

midafternoon

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.

  • CMU ARPABET: M IH1 D AE2 F T ER0 N UW2 N Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The middle of the afternoon, normally between 2 and 4 pm.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Examples

  • I'll be busy until midafternoon, but you can try my office around 3.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

the middle part of the afternoon

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: day, daytime, daylight

History

Etymology

From Middle English mid-afternon, myd-afternon, equivalent to mid- + afternoon.

Across languages

Translations

11 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Catalan: mitja tarda — middle of the afternoon
  • Crimean Tatar: ekindi — middle of the afternoon
  • Finnish: iltapäivän puoliväli — middle of the afternoon
  • German: Nachmittagsmitte — middle of the afternoon
  • German: Mitte des Nachmittags — middle of the afternoon
  • Hungarian: középdélután — middle of the afternoon
  • Irish: ardtráthnóna — middle of the afternoon
  • Romanian: mijlocul după-amiezii — middle of the afternoon
  • Spanish: media tarde — middle of the afternoon
  • Turkish: ikindi — middle of the afternoon
  • Welsh: canol prynhawn — middle of the afternoon