yesterday
Americanadverb
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on the day preceding this day.
-
a short time ago.
Yesterday your money went further.
noun
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yesterdays
plural
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the day preceding this day.
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time in the immediate past.
adjective
noun
-
the day immediately preceding today
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(often plural) the recent past
adverb
-
on or during the day before today
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in the recent past
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of yesterday
before 950; Middle English; Old English geostran dæg. See yester-, day
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
"We could have been on pole yesterday," he said.
From BBC ● Aug. 22, 2026
CEO David Guggina said yesterday during the company’s earnings call that highlighted the cost pressures facing consumers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
"We share a stable consensus," Grushetskyi said, "Fedorov's statements yesterday were far from the public mood."
From Barron's ● Aug. 19, 2026
The latest example happened in the Oval Office yesterday, when Trump called CNN’s Kristen Holmes “a loud, boisterous person” and told her to “be quiet.”
From Slate ● Aug. 18, 2026
Inside was his data, the analysis from yesterday.
From "Boy 2.0" by Tracey Baptiste
The two candidates who advance to the general election would be wise to offer Californians a hope for the future that doesn’t call back to our yesterdays.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 15, 2026
As he put it on stage about being 73, “there’s a lot more yesterdays, and more goodbyes.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 24, 2025
More important may be simply having a reason to remember some of the yesterdays of a franchise that has 48 rich years of history.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 28, 2023
“We’re all in our twilight years; we have more yesterdays than tomorrows,” Davis said.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 4, 2021
“You had all weekend to do it. And yesterdays study group?”
From "Tradition" by Brendan Kiely
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
