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personal day

American  
[pur-suh-nl dey] / ˈpɜr sə nl ˌdeɪ /

noun

  1. a day that an employee chooses to take off from work for personal reasons.

    I took a personal day to attend my sister's graduation.


Etymology

Origin of personal day

First recorded in 1970–75

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:

Does this count as a sick day, or would I need to use a personal day?

From MarketWatch May 11, 2026

The president-elect's son, Donald Trump Jr, paid a brief visit to Greenland on Tuesday, in what he described as a "personal day trip" to talk to people.

From BBC Jan. 8, 2025

On Thursday, he took a personal day from work.

From New York Times Nov. 10, 2022

The Rams didn’t disclose the reason for Akers’ personal day, and coach Sean McVay doesn’t address the media again until Friday.

From Seattle Times Oct. 13, 2022

We make a big group at the local community college, all of us kids, Mr. Hameed, and Dad, who took a personal day off from work.

From "A Place at the Table" by Saadia Faruqi and Laura Shovan

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