festive season

British

noun

the period immediately leading up to Christmas and ending just after New Year

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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.

“That’s quite concerning. Even the festive season isn’t really giving people the desire to spend as they did before.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 17, 2026

After taking a train home to her native Hebei province, Beijing resident Hua Lei told AFP she would observe a subdued festive season.

From Barron's • Mar. 4, 2026

For the final three months of the year, which comprise the key festive season, the company logged a like-for-like 9.8% rise in revenue to 1.445 billion euros.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 18, 2026

At London Christmas Tree Rental, all of the trees are potted and returned after the festive season to be grown on for reuse the following year.

From BBC • Jan. 6, 2026

"Looks to me as though we're going to have a ripsnorter for Christmas," said Eric to his friend, Homer, the day before the festive season.

From The Boy With the U. S. Life-Savers by Rolt-Wheeler, Francis

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023