red-letter
Americanadjective
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marked by red letters, as festival days in the church calendar.
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memorable; especially important or happy.
a red-letter day in his life.
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(of a Bible) having the quoted words of Jesus appear in red type.
a red-letter edition;
the red-letter New Testament presented at her baptism.
Etymology
Origin of red-letter
First recorded in 1660–70
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.
This makes July 10, 2026, the red-letter day because taxpayers usually have three years after filing a return to make a claim disputing a penalty, according to Collins.
From MarketWatch ● May 27, 2026
SpaceX’s big news, along with Anthropic’s showing potential to turn a profit far sooner than expected and OpenAI’s prepping for its public debut, made yesterday AI’s red-letter day.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 21, 2026
This was a red-letter day in the history of Liverpool's famous old stadium as the new top deck of the Anfield Road Stand was in use for the first time.
From BBC ● Dec. 17, 2023
Could Feb. 15 be a red-letter day for Nikki Haley?
From Washington Times ● Feb. 7, 2023
It was a red-letter day, after all, so I put aside the black ink and held up the bottle of red.
From "The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate" by Jacqueline Kelly
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.
