sundowner
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.89 in modern English
13
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
3
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
An itinerant worker, such as a swagman, who arrives at a farm too late in the day to do any work, but readily accepts food and lodging.
Australian usage; Obsolete
noun
A sea captain who shows harsh discipline by requiring all hands to be on board by sundown.
noun
A cocktail party held in the early evening.
Example Sentences
- "What he saw was not usual in this part of Australia - a sundowner, a bush waif who tramps from north to south or from east to west, never working, cadging rations from the far-flung homesteads and having the ability of the camel to do without water, or find it."
- "Like the Australian sundowners, some of these trampers were suspected of never wanting to find a job."
- "Arrogant, aloof, and suspicious, a “sundowner,” or strict disciplinarian, King inspired respect in many but affection in few."
- "These patients may improve by day only to relapse at night (nocturnal delirium or sundowner's syndrome)."
- "They generally occur in the evening or at night in the form of "sundowner" syndrome, as a result of diminished sensory input and social isolation and/or exposure to an unfamiliar environment (e.g., the hospital)."
- "“Sundowner′s syndrome” refers to changes in mood and behavior that begin near dusk."
Etymology
From sundown + -er.