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-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.
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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
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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)
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holidays,
present (3rd person singular)
-
holidayed,
past participle, past
-
holidaying
present participle
Holiday
2
American
[hol-i-dey]
/ 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
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:
I would lock in those holiday flights now, especially if your travel plans aren’t flexible or you are loyal to one airline.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
There was a stylized poster of Che Guevara celebrating a little-known holiday on Oct.
From Slate ● Sep. 18, 2026
Administrators said about £489,000 was owed for staff wages and accrued holiday pay.
From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026
A backlog of applications from the UK for working holiday visas would continue to be processed slowly after a record 80,000 applications -- a matter that is under discussion with the UK government, he said.
From Barron's ● Sep. 17, 2026
“This is my gift to Humphrey. This extension attaches to his cage and makes it bigger. Now you’re all going to help me build Humphrey his holiday present: his very own playground.”
From "The World According to Humphrey" by Betty G. Birney
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
Bank Holiday Monday is the last day of the summer season for the theme park, which extended the day's opening hours to reflect this.
From BBC ● Aug. 31, 2026
Two other Warner Bros. movies, “Scoob! Holiday Haunt” and “Batgirl,” were written off when almost completed, but as of now, no one has come to their rescue.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026
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
I look at the black-and-white photographs of Nina Simone, Sarah Vaughan, Billie Holiday, and Ella Fitzgerald on the wall above the circular booths.
From "A High Five for Glenn Burke" by Phil Bildner
Japanese financial markets will be closed Monday through Wednesday for public holidays, leaving a light economic calendar for the week.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
Dumond recommends that travelers planning to head home for the holidays use Google’s flight-tracker tool to keep up with price changes.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 15, 2026
The paper reports that Prime Minister Andy Burnham will hand mayors the power to impose unlimited taxes on tourists that could lead to families paying hundreds of pounds more on holidays in England.
From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2026
After a break for the holidays, the Grammy winner will make her way to California in January for shows in Palm Springs and Santa Barbara.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2026
Since the Lilienthals were supportive of Bobby, he reciprocated with gifts: a television satellite dish, a vacuum cleaner, leather goods that he’d buy on trips to Vienna, and special gifts for birthdays and other holidays.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
The experience has, she says, changed the way she and her family have holidayed for good.
From BBC ● Jun. 17, 2025
The couple, who live in Ludlow, Shropshire, have holidayed at their caravan in Tywyn for many years, with Mrs Falconer having visited the area since she was a child.
From BBC ● Jan. 2, 2024
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
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 Rahul Alvares
A British national of Iraqi birth, Saad al-Hilli was holidaying with his family in the picturesque countryside of Lake Annecy in eastern France.
From BBC ● Sep. 1, 2026
"People haven't got the resources to sit in a pub for three or four hours and enjoy themselves. I get the impression people are holidaying on a tighter budget."
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 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
She suggests being flexible over where and when you travel, including considering switching to road or rail or holidaying in the UK.
From BBC ● Apr. 23, 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.
