Learn Russian: Поздний ужин — плохая привычка.

In Russian, when both the subject (ужин) and the descriptive noun (привычка) are in the Nominative case, we use a long dash to connect them. It stands in for the present-tense verb "is" which is omitted.

Why does поздний end in -ий instead of the standard masculine -ый?

Поздний is a soft-stem adjective. The н right before the ending is soft, so it requires the soft ending -ий. You'll see this same pattern in other time-related or weather-related adjectives like ранний (early), весенний (spring), and зимний (winter).

Do you pronounce the д in поздний?

No, the д is silent. When Russian has tricky consonant clusters like здн, the middle consonant is often dropped in everyday speech to make it easier to say. You pronounce it as if it were written позний.

How do we know to translate this as "A late dinner" instead of "The late dinner" since there are no articles?

Because Russian lacks words for "a" or "the", you have to rely entirely on context. This sentence is making a general, universal statement about late eating rather than talking about one specific meal you just had, so "A late dinner" or simply "Late dinner" is the most natural English translation.