holiday season

American  

[hol-i-dey see-zuhn] / ˈhɒl ɪˌdeɪ ˈsi zən /

noun

• holiday seasons
  plural

1. a period of days or weeks in which two or more annual observances occur, especially in the United States, where it most often refers to the approximately 5–6 weeks from Thanksgiving in November to New Year’s Day in January.

   The kids will be singing Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa songs for the holiday season.

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Usage

What is the holiday season? The holiday season is the period that starts on Thanksgiving and continues until New Year’s Day. It includes the holidays of Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, and New Year’s Eve. The holiday season is sometimes called the holidays. These terms are typically used to refer collectively to all of the holidays that occur during this time, regardless of whether the person using the term celebrates them or not. In contrast, the terms Christmas season and Christmastime specifically refer to the period leading up to Christmas. People often wish each other a happy holiday season by saying happy holidays. Example: I start feeling all warm and fuzzy as soon as the holiday season begins.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• holiday seasons
  plural

Etymology

Origin of holiday season

First recorded in 1840–45

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

holiday season

The incident comes at the beginning of the summer holiday season, when thousands of tourists are estimated to travel to the island a week, primarily from the UK.

From BBC ● Jul. 9, 2026

Executives then lobbied Urner Barry throughout the 2024 holiday season, the Justice Department said, asking the market research firm for ever-higher price quotations and to pay less attention to other companies’ bids.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 1, 2026

Airlines typically make losses over the winter then look to make profits during the peak summer holiday season.

From BBC ● May 21, 2026

His BattleBots team Seems Reasonable confirmed in a January Instagram tribute that Marks died over the holiday season.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 22, 2026

I should have been relieved when January rolled around and put an end to my hellish holiday season.

From "Anthem of a Reluctant Prophet" by Joanne Proulx