What it means
Means taking on a second job on the sly, usually outside your normal hours and often at night, like a cheeky little side hustle. You’ll mostly hear it as moonlight as something, when someone’s secretly grafting for extra cash without their main workplace clocking it. Not automatically dodgy, just kept quiet when money’s tight and bills are rude.
Usage examples
"I thought Priya was skint, but she’s moonlighting as a nail tech after hours, then legging it home before anyone from work clocks her."
"Mark has been moonlighting as a wedding DJ since November, makes more in one Saturday night than in a whole week at the office, and nobody upstairs has a clue."
"Our neighbour moonlights as a dog walker on Sunday afternoons, takes six dogs round the local park and comes back smelling of fox and contented exhaustion."
Where it comes from
Goes straight back to the idea of working by the light of the moon, with a second job slipped in after the main one has finished for the day. The image stuck, and the verb settled into English as the polite cover for any side hustle done off the books, after hours and away from the day boss's gaze.
Other ways to say it
Editors of this term
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