holiday
noun
a day fixed by law or custom on which ordinary business is suspended in commemoration of some event or in honor of some person.
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holiday
1 American
[hol-i-day]
/ ˈhɒl ɪˌdeɪ /
noun
-
holidays
plural
-
a day fixed by law or custom on which ordinary business is suspended in commemoration of some event or in honor of some person.
-
any day of exemption from work (distinguished from working day).
-
a time or period of exemption from any requirement, duty, assessment, etc..
New businesses may be granted a one-year tax holiday.
-
a religious feast day; holy day, especially any of several usually commemorative holy days observed in Judaism.
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Chiefly British. Sometimes holidays. a period of cessation from work or one of recreation; vacation.
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an unintentional gap left on a plated, coated, or painted surface.
adjective
-
of or relating to a festival; festive; joyous.
a holiday mood.
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suitable for a holiday.
holiday attire.
verb (used without object)
-
holidays,
present (3rd person singular)
-
holidayed,
past participle, past
-
holidaying
present participle
Holiday
2
American
[hol-i-day]
/ ˈhɒl ɪˌdeɪ /
noun
holiday
1
British
/ ˈhɒlɪˌdeɪ, -dɪ /
noun
-
(often plural)
-
US and Canadian word: vacation. a period in which a break is taken from work or studies for rest, travel, or recreation
-
( as modifier )
a holiday mood
-
-
a day on which work is suspended by law or custom, such as a religious festival, bank holiday, etc
verb
Holiday
2
British
/ ˈhɒlɪˌdeɪ /
noun
holiday
Idioms
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
holidaysimple
-
holidayssimple
-
have holidayedperfect
-
has holidayedperfect
-
am holidayingprogressive
-
are holidayingprogressive
-
is holidayingprogressive
-
have been holidayingperfect progressive
-
has been holidayingperfect progressive
Past
-
holidayedsimple
-
had holidayedperfect
-
was holidayingprogressive
-
were holidayingprogressive
-
had been holidayingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of holiday
First recorded before 950; Middle English; Old English hāligdæg; equivalent to holy + day
Explanation
A holiday celebrates a person, anniversary, religious belief or other occasion. You might observe the Indian holiday of Holi, and take a week off of work to celebrate with your family. A holiday is an occasion recognized by the state or federal government and marked on calendars, like Thanksgiving in the United States. Most holidays are celebratory and fun, and just about all of them mean no work or school. You can also take a holiday, or vacation. Holiday comes from "holy" and "day," meaning a religious festival, and the word was even pronounced that way until the sixteenth century.
Vocabulary lists containing holiday
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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:
They packed light, in line with their cover story about a brief holiday abroad.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
Avoid any activities that may create a spark, secure those outdoor holiday decorations, and stay hydrated!
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 14, 2026
If you’re going to take an $8,000 holiday of a lifetime to Europe, take it while you still have jobs and workplace health insurance.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 13, 2026
"I think having a holiday where you are scared about something that is 'real', instead of the usual daily mental pressures, touches me in a way."
From BBC ● Oct. 12, 2026
For most enslaved Americans, it was their only holiday.
From "In the Shadow of Liberty" by Kenneth C. Davis
Holiday spending on travel and services offers a gauge of consumer demand, which remains weak amid a persistent property slump and subdued confidence.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026
Holiday flights can be among the biggest travel expenses of the year.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 28, 2026
Holiday is the goal scorer, with De La Cruz and Apolinar serving as the playmakers to get him in position to score.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 21, 2026
Holiday lets "can generate important economic and social benefits, especially for households struggling to make ends meet" but "they may also aggravate housing demand pressures in some constrained local housing markets," the EU draft read.
From Barron's ● Sep. 9, 2026
I am invited very often these days to speak about modern education in college auditoriums and in Holiday Inn ballrooms.
From "Hunger of Memory" by Richard Rodriguez
Research suggests cousin relationships are often built at large family gatherings—weddings, holidays, reunions—and as older generations disappear, so can those regular meetups.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 2026
Early on, I saw Dad only on movie screens, on holidays or when he worked in New York.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026
Some 130 French high schools remained closed on Monday, the education ministry said, with authorities hoping the protest movement that has rocked the nation in recent weeks would ease ahead of half-term holidays.
From Barron's ● Oct. 12, 2026
Major retailers also are preparing for increased demand around the holidays and are stocking up and replenishing inventories, Seroka said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 12, 2026
Whenever I spend holidays with my grandparents, I stay in my old bedroom.
From "On the Come Up" by Angie Thomas
Mandelson has met Elon Musk, holidayed with Trump's new Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and built a relationship with Mark Burnett, the TV producer behind The Apprentice who is now Trump's special envoy to the UK.
From BBC ● Feb. 8, 2025
The couple, who live in Ludlow, Shropshire, have holidayed at their caravan in Tywyn for many years, with Mrs Falconer having visited the area since she was a child.
From BBC ● Jan. 2, 2024
In a video statement issued from the hospital, he appeared to be in good spirits and said he had holidayed at the Sea of Galilee without properly protecting himself from a heatwave.
From Reuters ● Jul. 16, 2023
As Benedict had holidayed in the diocese, and spent at least part of his time at the priest’s former place of work with his successor, the experts said they suspect he knew about the conviction.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 20, 2022
Our entire family, dad, mum, my two brothers and I, had holidayed at their place a year earlier.
From Free from School by Rahul Alvares
David Cameron frequently stayed in Cornwall with his wife Samantha, holidaying there every summer while in No 10.
From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026
Speaking to AFP by phone, a Moscow resident holidaying in Feodosia on Crimea's southeastern coast said earlier this week that "everyone is afraid: locals and visitors alike."
From Barron's ● Jun. 26, 2026
Three people died after the rare rat-borne hantavirus spread through passengers holidaying on the MV Hondius cruise ship, sparking a global health scare.
From Barron's ● May 15, 2026
The 64 year-old is one of six Britons who died after holidaying on the island country since January 2023, all of whose families are now making personal injury claims against Tui.
From BBC ● Feb. 12, 2026
The earliest account we have of a Lethifold was written by the wizard Flavius Belby, who was fortunate enough to survive a Lethifold attack in 1782 while holidaying in Papua New Guinea.
From "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" by J.K. Rowling
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
