payday

American  

[pay-day] / ˈpeɪˌdeɪ /

noun

• paydays
  plural

1. the day on which wages are given, payment is made, etc.

2. Informal. a day or period during which a great deal of money, success, fame, etc., is won or obtained.

   Payday came when she was given a screen test by a big Hollywood studio.

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payday British  

/ ˈpeɪˌdeɪ /

noun

1. the day on which wages or salaries are paid

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• paydays
  plural

Etymology

Origin of payday

First recorded in 1520–30; pay ¹ + day

Explanation

When you have a job, your payday is the day you get paid. You might wait to buy yourself a new outfit until after payday. Some jobs have a weekly payday — maybe Fridays are payday at the ice cream shop where you work. In other cases, you have to wait two weeks, or even a month, between paydays. You can also use payday to mean a sudden success or influx of money, either earned or won: "That movie brought a huge payday to its producers." Since 1932, there's also been a peanut and nougat-based candy bar called PayDay.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

payday paydays

I buy more every payday, rain or shine.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 28, 2026

"A lot of people are just one payday away from relying on the food bank… that is a reality for a lot of people."

From BBC ● Sep. 7, 2026

They’ll all be competing for a record payday.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026

Thirty-four years ago, a brilliant young hedge-fund manager helped engineer a $1 billion payday for his employer by betting a major currency would be devalued.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026

Then on payday they always went to the ten-cent photograph shop above the Army and Navy Store so that Antonapoulos could have his picture taken.

From "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter" by Carson McCullers

“It’s just the process of it, man,” said Chargers safety Derwin James, who has earned a pair of hefty paydays after a training camp hold in of his own four years ago.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2026

Annual wages soared by as much as 7% — the fastest rate in more than 40 years — and job switchers won even bigger paydays.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 11, 2026

For early investors and executives, it could mean enormous paydays.

From Salon ● Jun. 13, 2026

High-school transfers have surged in Florida as players chase field time and winning teams in the age of big college paydays.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 14, 2026

On paydays, if the rent wasn't due, Ty'ree always made sure there was some left to see a movie or rent a video.

From "Miracle's Boys" by Jacqueline Woodson