je6 gwai2夜鬼
Jyutpingje6 gwai2
Yaleyeh gwái
Definition
Night owl; a person who stays up late and wakes up late the next day.
colloquialpeopledaily actions
How it's used
Refers specifically to someone who habitually stays up late, often until the early hours of the morning. It carries a slightly playful or self-deprecating tone, often used when discussing poor sleep hygiene or late-night social habits. Unlike the English term night owl, it implies a lack of discipline or a disruption to a normal schedule rather than just a personal preference.
Measure word
zek3隻jekExamples
He is always a night owl, so he has no energy at work during the day.
Are you being a night owl again? Don't you need to wake up early tomorrow?
Related words
Common mistake
Do not use this to describe someone who is simply working a night shift, as the term implies a voluntary choice to stay awake for leisure or habit rather than professional necessity.
Grammar color guide
Noun
Verb
Adjective
Adverb
Pronoun
Classifier
Particle
Connector
Grammar guides
- LocationHow to say where something is using 喺 (hai2), place words like 度, and the common coverbs that work like English prepositions.
- Serial verbsStringing two or more verbs together without any joining word, like go to the shop buy things. Extremely common in Cantonese.
- 將 disposalHow to move the object in front of the verb with 將, to focus on what happens to it. Common in instructions and writing.
