heyday
1 Americannoun
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the stage or period of greatest vigor, strength, success, etc.; prime.
the heyday of the vaudeville stars.
-
Archaic. high spirits.
interjection
noun
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.
Vocabulary lists containing heyday
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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Wonder
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Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I've Been to the Mountaintop" (1968)
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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.
In the fall of 2015 Gary Snyder opened Mount Baker burger spot Heyday with Dang Nguyen.
From Seattle Times • May 24, 2023
Some of the urban expats are returnees, such as chef Tadao Mitsui, who opened Heyday Farm House on the six-acre Heyday Farm, a property he and his wife bought in May.
From Washington Post • Aug. 5, 2022
A film version of “Follies” is also in the works; the script is “in active development,” according to a spokesman for the production company, Heyday Films.
From New York Times • Dec. 8, 2021
It started when he gave his parents a copy of his first book, an academic study titled “The UAW and the Heyday of American Liberalism, 1945-1968.”
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 25, 2021
In these two latter styles we are, as yet, a long distance from Heyday, the pride of London.
From The Impending Crisis of the South How to Meet It by Helper, Hinton Rowan
Definitions 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.
