all-nighter
/ɔːl ˈnaɪtər/
Very CommonStaying up through the entire night, usually to study, finish work, or meet a deadline.
Real-world examples4 examples
| # | Example | What it means | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | pulling an all-nighter, send coffee and prayers | About to stay up all night studying and asking for moral support. | x, 2023 |
| 02 | it's 4am and I genuinely do not know if I've retained any of this | Deep into an all-nighter and questioning whether it's working. | reddit, 2024 |
| 03 | three all-nighters in a row this week and I think I left my body somewhere around Tuesday | Multiple consecutive sleepless nights have caused serious cognitive and physical deterioration. | tiktok, 2023 |
| 04 | never pulling an all-nighter again (I will absolutely pull another all-nighter) | Swearing off all-nighters while acknowledging it will happen again. | x, 2024 |
Use it when
- Describing staying up all night to study or finish an assignment.
- Explaining why someone is exhausted or non-functional the next day.
- Posting about being awake at 4am trying to meet a deadline.
Do not use it when
- You just mean staying up late, but you did sleep.
Origin and context
A well-established term in student culture predating the internet. Its heavy online presence mirrors the growth of student communities on Reddit, Twitter, and TikTok where exam stress became a shared social performance.
- First seen
- pre-2000s
- Confidence
- high
Cite this page
Use this stable URL to reference the entry.
https://slang.fyi/all-nighterUpdated: 2026-08-28License: CC BY 4.0