深夜

• Pinyin: shēn yè
• Hanzi breakdown: 深 = 氵component (deep); 夜 = 亦 + dot (night, darkness)

Meaning

Late at night; the dead of night; the middle of the night, typically after midnight.

Refers to a period late in the evening or early morning when most people are asleep. Frequently appears in literary, journalistic, and conversational contexts to convey solitude, urgency, or clandestine activity.

Examples

1. 深夜时分，整栋楼里只有他的书房还亮着灯。 In the dead of night, his study was the only room in the whole building with a light on.
2. 救援队在深夜接到紧急呼救后，立即赶往事故现场。 The rescue team received an emergency call late at night and immediately rushed to the accident site.
3. 她习惯在深夜独自坐在窗边，回想白天发生的种种事情。 She’s used to sitting alone by the window late at night, thinking back on everything that happened during the day.

Usage Guide

Context: daily life, literature, news

Tone: neutral

Do Say

• 他深夜加班，独自坐在空旷的办公室里整理报告。(He worked overtime late at night, sitting alone in the empty office sorting through reports.)
• 暴雨在深夜突然袭来，居民们被雷声惊醒。(The rainstorm struck suddenly in the dead of night, waking residents with the crack of thunder.)

Don't Say

• 深夜 to mean 'very dark' — use 漆黑 or 昏暗 for darkness; 深夜 refers specifically to the late-night time period

Origin & History

深 (deep, late) + 夜 (night)

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal