Bed-time or bedtime?
bed-time is a noun meaning “Dated form of bedtime”; bedtime is a noun meaning “The time or hour at which one retires to bed in order to sleep”. bed-time is written with a hyphen and bedtime as one word; they are used differently.
What is the difference between bed-time and bedtime?
| bed-time | bedtime | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | noun | noun |
| Meaning | The time or hour at which one retires to bed in order to sleep | |
| Example | none recorded | none recorded |
| Forms | bed-times | bedtimes |
| Pronunciation | not recorded | /ˈbɛdtaɪm/ |
| In writing | not counted (the list counts single words) | 3.6 times per million words |
Sources: bed-time and bedtime in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of bed-time and bedtime
bed-time
- 1
datedDated form of bedtime
bedtime
- 1
The time or hour at which one retires to bed in order to sleep
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, bed-time or bedtime?
bed-time is a phrase, which the list of single words does not count; bedtime 3.6 times per million words.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).