diff --git a/frontend/src/components/ui/DateDisplay.tsx b/frontend/src/components/ui/DateDisplay.tsx
index c3343db..47602f8 100644
--- a/frontend/src/components/ui/DateDisplay.tsx
+++ b/frontend/src/components/ui/DateDisplay.tsx
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+import { useEffect, useState } from "react";
+
 interface DateDisplayProps {
   date?: Date;
   className?: string;
@@ -13,15 +15,30 @@ export default function DateDisplay({
     year: "numeric",
   });
 
+  const [now, setNow] = useState(new Date());
+
+  useEffect(() => {
+    const timer = setInterval(() => {
+      setNow(new Date());
+    }, 1000);
+
+    return () => clearInterval(timer);
+  }, []);
+
+  const hours = now.getHours();
+  const minutes = now.getMinutes();
+  const seconds = now.getSeconds();
+
   return (
-    <div
-      className={`text-right flex flex-col gap-2 min-w-[140px] ${className}`}
-    >
+    <div className={`text-right flex flex-col gap-2 min-w-35 ${className}`}>
       <span className="text-[10px] uppercase tracking-[0.4em] text-accent font-bold">
         Date
       </span>
       <span className="text-sm font-serif text-secondary-content italic whitespace-nowrap">
-        {formattedDate}
+        {formattedDate} <br />
+        <span className="text-secondary-content/50 font-sans not-italic">
+          {hours}:{minutes}:{seconds}
+        </span>
       </span>
     </div>
   );
diff --git a/frontend/src/utils/dateFormat.test.ts b/frontend/src/utils/dateFormat.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3eedd91
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/src/utils/dateFormat.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+import { afterEach, beforeEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
+import { formatRelativeDate } from "./dateFormat";
+
+describe("formatRelativeDate", () => {
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    vi.useFakeTimers();
+    vi.setSystemTime(new Date("2026-04-14T15:30:00Z"));
+  });
+
+  afterEach(() => {
+    vi.useRealTimers();
+  });
+
+  it("should format a same-day timestamp as Today, <time>", () => {
+    const result = formatRelativeDate("2026-04-14T10:15:00Z");
+
+    expect(result).toBe("Today, 3:45 PM");
+  });
+
+  it("should format a previous-day timestamp as Yesterday, <time>", () => {
+    const result = formatRelativeDate("2026-04-13T09:10:00Z");
+
+    expect(result).toBe("Yesterday, 2:40 PM");
+  });
+
+  it("should format dates within the last week as relative day + time", () => {
+    const result = formatRelativeDate("2026-04-12T08:00:00Z");
+
+    expect(result).toBe("2 days ago, 1:30 PM");
+  });
+
+  it("should format dates older than a week as a full date+time", () => {
+    const result = formatRelativeDate("2026-04-01T13:15:00Z");
+
+    expect(result).toBe("Apr 1, 2026, 6:45 PM");
+  });
+});
diff --git a/frontend/src/utils/dateFormat.ts b/frontend/src/utils/dateFormat.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6b583d8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/src/utils/dateFormat.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+const timeFormatter = new Intl.DateTimeFormat(undefined, {
+  timeStyle: "short",
+});
+
+const dateTimeFormatter = new Intl.DateTimeFormat(undefined, {
+  dateStyle: "medium",
+  timeStyle: "short",
+});
+
+const rtf = new Intl.RelativeTimeFormat(undefined, {
+  numeric: "auto",
+});
+
+function startOfDay(d: Date) {
+  return new Date(d.getFullYear(), d.getMonth(), d.getDate());
+}
+
+export function formatRelativeDate(input: Date | string | number) {
+  const date = new Date(input);
+  const now = new Date();
+
+  const dayMs = 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000;
+  const diffDays = Math.round(
+    (startOfDay(date).getTime() - startOfDay(now).getTime()) / dayMs,
+  );
+
+  const time = timeFormatter.format(date);
+
+  if (diffDays === 0) return `Today, ${time}`;
+  if (diffDays === -1) return `Yesterday, ${time}`;
+  if (diffDays > -7) return `${rtf.format(diffDays, "day")}, ${time}`;
+
+  return dateTimeFormatter.format(date);
+}