heyday

¹ American  

[hay-day] / ˈheɪˌdeɪ /

Or heydey

noun

• heydays
  plural

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

   the heyday of the vaudeville stars.

2. Archaic. high spirits.

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heyday ² American  

[hay-day] / ˈheɪ deɪ /

interjection

Archaic.

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

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heyday British  

/ ˈheɪˌdeɪ /

noun

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

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• heydays
  plural

Etymology

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

Explanation

A heyday is a peak of popularity or success. If you hear someone say "Hey! Back in the day, I was the best boxer in the city! No one could beat me!" he might be remembering his heyday as a fighter. If you remember a time in the past when you were doing something really well or getting a lot of attention or fame, you might be reminiscing about your heyday. A person or an organization — and even a thing — can have a heyday, or a peak time when everything goes well. The good news is that a heyday can come again and again, so while your heyday as student president might be just a memory, there might be a heyday as governor of your state years later.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

heyday heydays

In its heyday in the 1970s, the site produced about 1,600 barrels of oil per day.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 2026

A working-class town near Newcastle, which had its heyday as a Victorian-era holiday destination, sporting success brought local pride to the north-east coast.

From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2026

Though the culture never disappeared since the heyday of cruising in the 1980s and 1990s, interest in lowriding has surged in recent years.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 17, 2026

There are large fragments of salt-eaten machinery littering the shore, relics of the island’s martial heyday.

From Slate ● Sep. 8, 2026

He was a child of AM radio’s Top Forty heyday.

From "Bodega Dreams" by Ernesto Quinonez

In some ways, the current versions of the Seahawks and Patriots are reminiscent of both of their heydays.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 5, 2026

Volkswagen is trying to tap some of that nostalgia in its latest push to regain the status and sales it enjoyed in the United States during the Beetle’s and Microbus’s heydays in the 1960s.

From New York Times ● Feb. 20, 2024

Rankin, who was once labelled a 'bad boy' celebrity photographer, has mellowed since the Britpop heydays of the noughties and becoming a father.

From BBC ● Jan. 22, 2024

You’ll meet athletic European Millennials wearing multicoloured sunglasses, grey-haired US retirees with epic adventure tales from their ’70s heydays, and everyone else in between — including eager-to-learn alpine virgins like myself.

From National Geographic ● Apr. 16, 2023

Even in heydays of poverty, and poor as she was, you know, notwithstanding our true love for each other, and close intimacy, I never could induce Lucy to receive a cent.

From Miles Wallingford Sequel to "Afloat and Ashore" by James Fenimore Cooper