weekday
Americannoun
-
weekdays
plural
adjective
noun
Usage
What is a weekday? A weekday is any day that is not a weekend day. Since the weekend is considered to consist of Saturday and Sunday, the weekdays are Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. (Even though Friday evening is sometimes considered the start of the weekend, Friday is still considered a weekday.)The evenings of weekdays are called weeknights. The word week most commonly refers to any period of seven consecutive days, or to the seven-day period on the calendar that begins on Sunday and ends on Saturday. However, in weekday and weeknight, it refers to the five-day period that’s often considered the workweek or school week. The standard workweek is from Monday through Friday, though working schedules vary widely. Days of the workweek can be called workdays. Weekdays are usually (but not always) workdays or school days. For this reason, terms like weekday and weeknight are typically used—instead of just saying day or night—to distinguish them from the days and nights on the weekend. The word weekdays can be used as an adverb meaning on weekdays—Monday through Friday. The word weekends can be used as an adverb in the same way, as in We’re open weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., but we’re closed weekends. Example: I don’t usually like to be out so late on a weekday, but I couldn’t miss this!
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of weekday
before 900; Middle English; Old English wicdæg. See week, day
Explanation
If it's not Saturday or Sunday, today is a weekday. Better get to bed early tonight — tomorrow's another weekday and you've got school! You can categorize every day of the week as either a weekday or the weekend. Monday through Friday are weekdays, which for most people means work or school. The word weekday can also be used as an adjective, to describe something that happens on one of these days, like your weekday routine or the weekday traffic on your commute. This word stems from the Old English wicudæge, and it originally meant "any day but Sunday."
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:
According to Isa, the pair decided to visit on a weekday "because we've seen weekends are a bit crazy".
From BBC ● Oct. 31, 2026
Owners of women’s sports bars are frustrated by the weekday lunchtime tip-off’s threat to their revenue.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 29, 2026
This afternoon was mostly about arranging rides, which departed Springfield every weekday morning.
From Slate ● Oct. 26, 2026
The rail network has an operating budget of more than $350 million and includes an average daily weekday ridership of more than 23,000 and an average weekend ridership of roughly 235,000.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 2026
Most of the players came from single-parent families, and their mothers or fathers—usually mothers—stayed home on weekends to look after their other children, or else worked, because weekend shifts paid more than weekday shifts.
From "Outcasts United: An American Town, a Refugee Team, and One Woman's Quest to Make a Difference" by Warren St. John
On weekdays, Carvalho works at an Audi dealership from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., attends classes from 6 p.m. to 8:50 p.m. and then does homework until around 11 p.m.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 28, 2026
Listen to Matt Chorley weekdays from 14:00 on BBC Radio 5 Live and on the Urgent Questions podcast.
From BBC ● Oct. 20, 2026
To shore up its numbers, Little League has rolled out initiatives, including schedules that allow children to play club on the weekends and for their Little League team on weekdays.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 4, 2026
From a combination of mold exposure and severe burnout from filming “After Midnight” on weekdays and performing in different cities on weekends, she fell ill for months and was forced to take a break.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2026
Nellie taught piano to neighborhood children and tended to Joe on weekdays.
From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
