payday

American  

[pey-dey] / ˈpeɪˌdeɪ /

noun

paydays plural

1. the day on which wages are given, payment is made, etc.

2. Informal. a day or period during which a great deal of money, success, fame, etc., is won or obtained.

   Payday came when she was given a screen test by a big Hollywood studio.

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payday British  

/ ˈpeɪˌdeɪ /

noun

1. the day on which wages or salaries are paid

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• paydays
  plural

Etymology

Origin of payday

First recorded in 1520–30; pay ¹ + day

Explanation

When you have a job, your payday is the day you get paid. You might wait to buy yourself a new outfit until after payday. Some jobs have a weekly payday — maybe Fridays are payday at the ice cream shop where you work. In other cases, you have to wait two weeks, or even a month, between paydays. You can also use payday to mean a sudden success or influx of money, either earned or won: "That movie brought a huge payday to its producers." Since 1932, there's also been a peanut and nougat-based candy bar called PayDay.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

payday paydays

To them, those benefits may outweigh the appeal of an uncertain million-dollar payday.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 24, 2026

Tuesday's auction will be a payday that has been a long time coming for the team, and could be the biggest yet.

From BBC ● Jul. 11, 2026

Discovery’s sale to Paramount Skydance Corp. closes, David Zaslav has already made a big payday.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 29, 2026

The Knicks offered a bundle, but Brunson could have gotten a payday elsewhere, and set himself up with a proven winner.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 14, 2026

“It’s payday for me. It is never too early to get paid.”

From "Dumplin'" by Julie Murphy

Annual wages soared by as much as 7% — the fastest rate in more than 40 years — and job switchers won even bigger paydays.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 11, 2026

There was also infighting among the group, with some bettors chasing big paydays while others settled for more modest wins.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 29, 2026

For early investors and executives, it could mean enormous paydays.

From Salon ● Jun. 13, 2026

High-school transfers have surged in Florida as players chase field time and winning teams in the age of big college paydays.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 14, 2026

I got by between paydays by neglecting overdue bills and borrowing money from Robin, so twice a month, when a few hundred dollars went into my account, it was gone within hours.

From "Educated" by Tara Westover