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.
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holiday
1 American
[hol-i-day]
/ 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.
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Chiefly British. Sometimes holidays. a period of cessation from work or one of recreation; vacation.
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an unintentional gap left on a plated, coated, or painted surface.
adjective
-
of or relating to a festival; festive; joyous.
a holiday mood.
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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-day]
/ ˈhɒl ɪˌdeɪ /
noun
holiday
1
British
/ ˈhɒlɪˌdeɪ, -dɪ /
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
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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:
If these things happen, Hartnett argues a year-end rebound and rally could start after the Thanksgiving holiday.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 6, 2026
During the 2021 holiday season, Amazon increased advertisers’ average cost per click by 20%, with some clients experiencing prices triple the usual amount, the FTC alleged.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 5, 2026
So, if you're saving up for something quite expensive, like a holiday, or very expensive, like a home, then a rate rise could be good news.
From BBC ● Nov. 5, 2026
To further its coffeehouse push, Starbucks is also releasing its first global holiday album in over a decade, featuring new recordings by artists like JYT, the Womack Sisters and Brandi Carlile.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 4, 2026
She remembered him vividly from the holiday ball at Ashton Place.
From "The Hidden Gallery" by Maryrose Wood
Holiday flights can be among the biggest travel expenses of the year.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 28, 2026
Holiday is the goal scorer, with De La Cruz and Apolinar serving as the playmakers to get him in position to score.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 21, 2026
Just weeks after the movie opened, 21-year-old Billie Holiday recorded a version with pianist Teddy Wilson.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
Holiday lets "can generate important economic and social benefits, especially for households struggling to make ends meet" but "they may also aggravate housing demand pressures in some constrained local housing markets," the EU draft read.
From Barron's ● Sep. 9, 2026
The tune for this ditty was suspiciously like a tune from Pirates on Holiday, the nautical operetta whose first act Penelope and the children had witnessed while visiting London some months earlier.
From "The Interrupted Tale" by Maryrose Wood
Auto sector production jumped around 17 percent from a month earlier following a sluggish period caused largely by factory holidays and plant maintenance over the summer.
From Barron's ● Nov. 6, 2026
A stronger pound can help rein in inflation, and increase buying power for consumers on imports and on holidays.
From BBC ● Nov. 4, 2026
French students returning from autumn holidays blocked some high schools on Monday, determined to reinvigorate a protest movement despite government concessions during the break.
From Barron's ● Nov. 2, 2026
According to the filing, Kaufman decided “all other orders regarding custody and visitation remain in full force and effect including holidays and vacation.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 30, 2026
During the Christmas holidays in 1994, she'd been hospitalized again.
From "Americanized" by Sara Saedi
Eileen Elgar, who died in 1980, used to live near the Hotel Miramar in Bournemouth where Tolkien and his wife holidayed every year.
From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026
The arrival of such futuristic designs marks a sharp departure from how we have traditionally holidayed.
From BBC ● Jan. 24, 2026
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
Our entire family, dad, mum, my two brothers and I, had holidayed at their place a year earlier.
From Free from School by Rahul Alvares
Josimar Medina, a 31-year-old Peruvian who was holidaying in Spain with his girlfriend, said he was sleeping on the Renfe train when "I woke up and I was in the air."
From Barron's ● Oct. 29, 2026
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
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
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
