holiday
noun
a day fixed by law or custom on which ordinary business is suspended in commemoration of some event or in honor of some person.
holiday
1 American
[hol-i-dey]
/ ˈhɒl ɪˌdeɪ /
noun
-
holidays
plural
-
a day fixed by law or custom on which ordinary business is suspended in commemoration of some event or in honor of some person.
-
any day of exemption from work (distinguished from working day).
-
a time or period of exemption from any requirement, duty, assessment, etc..
New businesses may be granted a one-year tax holiday.
-
a religious feast day; holy day, especially any of several usually commemorative holy days observed in Judaism.
-
Chiefly British. Sometimes holidays. a period of cessation from work or one of recreation; vacation.
-
an unintentional gap left on a plated, coated, or painted surface.
adjective
-
of or relating to a festival; festive; joyous.
a holiday mood.
-
suitable for a holiday.
holiday attire.
verb (used without object)
-
holidays,
present (3rd person singular)
-
holidayed,
past participle, past
-
holidaying
present participle
Holiday
2
American
[hol-i-dey]
/ ˈhɒl ɪˌdeɪ /
noun
holiday
1
British
/ -dɪ, ˈhɒlɪˌdeɪ /
noun
-
(often plural)
-
US and Canadian word: vacation. a period in which a break is taken from work or studies for rest, travel, or recreation
-
( as modifier )
a holiday mood
-
-
a day on which work is suspended by law or custom, such as a religious festival, bank holiday, etc
verb
Holiday
2
British
/ ˈhɒlɪˌdeɪ /
noun
holiday
Idioms
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
holidaysimple
-
holidayssimple
-
have holidayedperfect
-
has holidayedperfect
-
am holidayingprogressive
-
are holidayingprogressive
-
is holidayingprogressive
-
have been holidayingperfect progressive
-
has been holidayingperfect progressive
Past
-
holidayedsimple
-
had holidayedperfect
-
was holidayingprogressive
-
were holidayingprogressive
-
had been holidayingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of holiday
First recorded before 950; Middle English; Old English hāligdæg; equivalent to holy + day
Explanation
A holiday celebrates a person, anniversary, religious belief or other occasion. You might observe the Indian holiday of Holi, and take a week off of work to celebrate with your family. A holiday is an occasion recognized by the state or federal government and marked on calendars, like Thanksgiving in the United States. Most holidays are celebratory and fun, and just about all of them mean no work or school. You can also take a holiday, or vacation. Holiday comes from "holy" and "day," meaning a religious festival, and the word was even pronounced that way until the sixteenth century.
Vocabulary lists containing holiday
Memorial Day Words
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Easter Vocabulary
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Passover Vocabulary
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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.
See Examples For:
Shipping industry officials had expected that the early rush of goods would mean an earlier end to the traditional peak shipping season, when retailers bring in end-of-year holiday items.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
My grandmother made holiday decorations for the house, and my grandfather worked with leather, making jackets and boots.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026
Burnham's predecessor, Sir Keir Starmer, had planned to go abroad for a holiday in August 2024, a month after entering No 10.
From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026
You can find a ho-hum plea for unity in her answer, as well as a guarded concession that Thanksgiving is a holiday that the vast majority of Americans cherish.
From Slate ● Aug. 4, 2026
Yet he didn’t want to call it a holiday.
From "The Very, Very Far North" by Dan Bar-el
Featuring in cinema classics like "Roman Holiday" and "La Dolce Vita", the Vespa has a long association with the Eternal City.
From Barron's ● Jun. 27, 2026
Billie Holiday wanted to record “Strange Fruit,” but her label refused.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 25, 2026
Welcome to this week’s edition of the Surge, a very special Friday Federal Holiday edition that makes a great reading companion to your steak-and-sauerkraut breakfast.
From Slate ● Jun. 19, 2026
Holiday company Tui has also ended its sponsorship of the show, as well as its Australian spin-off.
From BBC ● Jun. 18, 2026
On Monday, our class used up practically our whole lunch hour practicing for our Holiday Concert.
From "Silent To The Bone" by E.L. Konigsburg
The Community Cupboard in Kent has begun offering pre-loved school uniforms to local families during the school holidays.
From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026
The manager also said the company’s proposal includes cutting the number of paid holidays for Magic United full-time workers from 12 to 11.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026
But it remains banned on religious public holidays and around elections.
From Barron's ● Aug. 3, 2026
The wildfires came as vacationers had filled the towns on France’s Atlantic Coast for the summer holidays.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
She says the computer is strictly for homework and she doesn’t want me distracted, even though I explain I don’t have any homework over the holidays.
From "A Good Kind of Trouble" by Lisa Moore Ramée
He had holidayed with Trump's Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and made connections with Mark Burnett, the TV produce of the Apprentice, the show that sparked Trump's rise to power.
From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2025
In a video statement issued from the hospital, he appeared to be in good spirits and said he had holidayed at the Sea of Galilee without properly protecting himself from a heatwave.
From Reuters ● Jul. 16, 2023
However, since the end of the Ashes they have holidayed in beautiful Queenstown, played golf, been surfing and climbed the picturesque mountain that gives Mount Maunganui its name.
From BBC ● Mar. 14, 2022
As Benedict had holidayed in the diocese, and spent at least part of his time at the priest’s former place of work with his successor, the experts said they suspect he knew about the conviction.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 20, 2022
Our entire family, dad, mum, my two brothers and I, had holidayed at their place a year earlier.
From Free from School by Alvares, Rahul
After holidaying on narrowboats, Andy Brown said it was "a fairly easy decision" for him and his wife to move into one post-retirement.
From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026
David Cameron frequently stayed in Cornwall with his wife Samantha, holidaying there every summer while in No 10.
From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026
Speaking to AFP by phone, a Moscow resident holidaying in Feodosia on Crimea's southeastern coast said earlier this week that "everyone is afraid: locals and visitors alike."
From Barron's ● Jun. 26, 2026
Three people died after the rare rat-borne hantavirus spread through passengers holidaying on the MV Hondius cruise ship, sparking a global health scare.
From Barron's ● May 15, 2026
The earliest account we have of a Lethifold was written by the wizard Flavius Belby, who was fortunate enough to survive a Lethifold attack in 1782 while holidaying in Papua New Guinea.
From "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" by J.K. Rowling
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.
