What Does It Mean When A Guy Says Goodnight First?

It always feels nice when you receive goodnight wishes from a special someone before falling asleep. You get to enter the dreamland with a smile lingering on your lips.

More so when this is your boyfriend or some guy you are crushing on. Maybe you’ve already started dating or are on the cusp of it. He’s indeed special and it’s quite romantic when you receive his goodnight text just before falling asleep.

Since his text was sent last thing at night, his conversation will be on top when you check your phone as soon as you wake up. For a love-filled heart, what more can you wish for at the end of an exhausting day?

However, there’s a catch here. When this guy texts goodnight, does he mean it in the same romantic sense as you took it? Is your imagination on overdrive and you misconstrued it totally?

What does a guy mean when he says goodnight first to you? This is a question you are bound to face at some point in your life. If you are having a hard time figuring out the answer, read on.

In this article, you will find the probable meanings when your guy texts goodnight first.

What does a guy mean when he texts goodnight?

In a relationship, especially if it’s in the early days when you don’t know each other well enough, it’s easy to misunderstand the gestures and messages. This may place you in an awkward situation if you are not careful enough.

Instead, you can get it right if you pay close attention to his behavior and learn to read between the lines. Let’s first start with what a guy might mean with such a message.

1. He’s crushing on you

This is what your romantic heart also wants to believe. Most often this is the case when the guy texts goodnight to you. He just wants to make you feel cherished and happy. He is trying to squeeze his way into your heart with these sweet messages and would like you to know his special feelings towards you.

Though a guy says goodnight to you, he may not want you to make a big deal of it. He may want you to notice him and his feelings toward you. But you need to be guarded in your response. If you take this forward and make it intense, he may run away from you. You need to take it slowly, all the time paying attention to his behavior and reactions.

Guys hate to appear desperate in matters related to the heart. If you give too much importance to his goodnight text, he may get scared and create distance from you. However, he also wants to let you know how he feels about you.

2. He’s interested in getting serious

You may have met in person or online. He liked what he saw about you. You exchanged phone numbers and you started texting. Then you started getting goodnight messages from him. This may be his way of telling you that he is interested in knowing you more and even dating you.

You are not just friends. From the beginning, your connection with him has romantic undertones. So, the guy says goodnight, it is not meant just as a friendly wish. There is definitely something more here. In fact, he’s reaching out to you to know you more with his goodnight text.

He may be hinting that he wants to have something more than just a friendly relationship with you. A goodnight text is more personal and he wants you to feel special. Maybe he also wants to know how you would react to a personal message like this before asking you out on a date.

3. He may be expecting a good morning text from you 

Whether you have already started dating or just beginning to, he believes that this is a good starting point. He may want you to get more personal with him. In fact, when a guy says goodnight to you, it is an invitation for you to get more personal. He may want you to start wishing him good morning and goodnight. As he is not close enough to you to make such a demand, he starts by doing this himself.

When a guy says goodnight to you, he may be looking forward to good morning messages from you. He may be thinking about you during all his waking hours. Nothing would make him happier than to receive good morning messages from you first thing in the morning. It would make him ecstatic to find your message waiting for him as he wakes up.

If this guy is shy, he may be having a hard time letting you know about his feelings for you. He may have difficulty verbalizing his emotions for you. Instead, he texts you goodnight. He considers this as a feeler to know your mind as well as a means to elicit a similar response from you.

4. He would like to build a more than friendly relationship

Often, friendship turns into romantic relationships. History has taught us time and again that this is universal. In fact, friendship is considered the most solid foundation a romantic relationship can have. However, it’s not an easy transformation from a friendship to a romantic relationship. There’s awkwardness and risk involved in it. 

He knows the risk he’s taking when trying to convert his friendship with you into a romantic relationship. He is aware that you may reject his advances and in the melee, he may lose your beautiful friendship as well. He may be testing the waters with this goodnight text. This is an innocent, sweet gesture and in case things do not go as he expects, he can always salvage the friendship in the situation.

You may be taken by surprise with his goodnight message. Because this is usually considered a gesture from a boyfriend. That is the cue for you that this guy wants you to notice.

5. He’s encouraging you to connect with him more

Wishing some goodnight is considered a sign to end the conversation. But this guy may be using it to prolong the chat. This may appear strange to you, but if you try to see it in context, you will know that this is not far-fetched.

He may be trying to find an opening in the conversation with you to let you know about his feelings for you. He has been waiting for the right moment to promote himself from just a friend or an acquaintance. As he couldn’t find this and he was getting more and more desperate, he used a personal goodnight text to let you know about his feelings.

When a guy says goodnight to you, it doesn’t mean an end to the conversation. He doesn’t mean to say goodnight to you at all. He’s just using it as a cue to draw you into the conversation. He expects you to respond so that both of you can continue sending texts back and forth. 

6. He’s getting ready to propose

Just the fact that this guy says goodnight to you means he’s thinking about you 24×7. Clearly, he’s head over heels in love with you. It’s only a matter of time before he proposes to you. His thinking about you at bedtime is a clear indication that he can’t wait for you to be together. He may want to call you and hear your voice but isn’t sure if this is the right thing to do. Instead, the guy says goodnight to you.

He’s indeed at wit’s end, trying to control his desire for you. He doesn’t want to scare you off either. He’s getting ready to take your relationship to the next level and pop the question to you cautiously. 

With his goodnight message, he is telling you that he’s constantly thinking about you.

7. He has had enough of the conversation

Goodnight is a very personal message most of the time. But there are times people use this to convey a negative message. When people want to wind up a conversation, they say goodnight curtly. Over a text message, the tone of the message is for you to interpret. This is the tricky part of it.

When he is uninterested in you or has lost interest in you, he may use a goodnight text to convey his disinterest. Maybe he thinks things are going too fast and he would like to slow it down. He hopes that you will take a hint from his brusque goodnight text. He sees it as a means to end the conversation without hurting you.

Depending on the context of the text, a goodnight text may offend you. With this, he’s showing his displeasure without being directly rude to you. In a way, he’s telling you that he isn’t interested in talking to you, at least for the time being.

If you try to continue the conversation with more messages, you may not get a reply. 

What is the right way for you to handle the situation?

The first thing for you to do is to identify what he means with the goodnight text. Once you know his real intention, it is easier for you to figure out your response. 

Again, your response also depends on your feelings toward him. Is it your intention to jump into a romantic relationship with him? Or would you want to take it forward with caution? You may be uninterested in the guy and may not want to have anything to do with him at all.

You should frame your response based on what kind of reaction you expect from him. 

Here are a few suggestions for you to consider.

• Reply immediately. Adjust the tone of your message to suit the kind of response you expect from him. From his next message, you will get a fair idea about what is on his mind. 
• Talk to him. Your call is bound to take him by surprise. He may have been apprehensive about sending you that goodnight text. At best, he would expect a reply from you but never a call. Listen to his reaction. From this, you will know what he’s thinking.
• Send love-filled emojis. A picture, they say, is worth a thousand words. Emojis can convey your feelings much better than text messages. If you have passionate feelings toward him, you can get the message across to him easily with the right emojis.
• Send a voice message. If you are feeling apprehensive about calling him at that hour, you can instead send a voice message. If he’s interested in you romantically, he would definitely appreciate the extra effort you put into it.
• Ask him to go on a date. He may be too shy or apprehensive about asking you out. As long as you get the signal that he’s interested in a romantic relationship with you, go right ahead and ask him to go on a date with you. This will get the ball rolling and he will feel bold enough to ask you out the next time.
• Be nice to him. Even if you are not interested in a romantic relationship with him, there is no point in being rude to him. Some may find it hard to handle rejection. Be gracious and let him know about your disinterest without being harsh. You may reply in a formal manner and this will get the message across to him.
• Delay your reply. Replying immediately is considered a sign of interest. If you aren’t interested in him, the easiest way to let him know about it without being rude is by delaying your reply. You need not reply the same night. You can reply after waking up in the morning. You may or may not offer an excuse for the delay.
• Avoid conversations with him late into the night. With this, you can avoid such situations. Deny him the opportunity to wish you goodnight.
• If you aren’t keen on a relationship with him but don’t want to be rude to him, make sure that your responses are erratic. Build an air of uncertainty about you and how you would respond to him. Don’t message him for the next few days and then keep in touch for a day or two. This way, you are indirectly hinting that you aren’t prioritizing him in your life.

The Bottom Line

When a person bids you goodnight, it can carry various implications, and your response should be guided by your interpretation of their intent. Keep in mind that a simple “goodnight” doesn’t necessarily equate to genuine affection if the person doesn’t demonstrate their love and affection toward you in other meaningful ways.

Therefore, it’s essential to approach the situation pragmatically. Reflect on your own desires and feelings, ask yourself what you truly want, and then take action accordingly. Trust yourself to find the right path for your own happiness.

Frequently Asked Questions