firstnighter

or first-night·er

[ furst-nahy-ter ]

noun
  1. a person who often or usually attends the theater, opera, etc., on opening night.

Origin of firstnighter

1
First recorded in 1880–85; first night + -er1

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use firstnighter in a sentence

  • The stage claimed a great part of my attention about this time, and I became an inveterate "first-nighter" in my holidays.

    Forty Years of 'Spy' | Leslie Ward
  • I was on the Long Branch boat the other day and met a well-known Empire first-nighter.

    Charles Frohman: Manager and Man | Isaac Frederick Marcosson and Daniel Frohman
  • She dresses la mode, she is an habitue of the smart restaurants, an inveterate first-nighter.

    My Actor-Husband | Anonymous
  • He was not a "first-nighter," but dropped in to see a new piece whenever he wanted copy for his feuilleton.

  • Lady Prattler (a confirmed first-nighter, to actor-manager).

    English Society | George Du Maurier

British Dictionary definitions for first-nighter

first-nighter

noun
  1. a member of an opening night audience, esp one who habitually attends first nights

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012