heyday

¹

Or hey·dey

[hey-dey]

noun

1. the stage or period of greatest vigor, strength, success, etc.; prime.

   the heyday of the vaudeville stars.

2. Archaic.,  high spirits.

heyday

²

[hey-dey]

interjection

Archaic.

1. (used as an exclamation of cheerfulness, surprise, wonder, etc.)

heyday

/ ˈheɪˌdeɪ /

noun

1. the time of most power, popularity, vigour, etc; prime

Word History and Origins

Origin of heyday¹

1580–90; variant of high day, apparently by confusion with heyday ²

Origin of heyday²

1520–30; rhyming compound based on hey; replacing heyda < German hei da hey there

Word History and Origins

Origin of heyday¹

C16: probably based on _hey

Example Sentences

In their heyday in the 1950s there were more than 4,000 in America -- but now only 300 or so remain, said Gary Rhodes, a movie historian.

Read more on Barron's

Meanwhile, the style of play in the NHL became faster and a little less bruising than it had been in the aughts—and far less brutal than it was in Gretzky’s heyday.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

He still wears the red beret from his Guardian Angels heyday because “it’s how people pick you out in a crowd.”

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

At Tugboat’s Restaurant and Bar across the street, locals recalled the atom smasher’s heyday.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Craftsman had its heyday from around 1900 to the early 1920s.

Read more on Los Angeles Times