Wednesday
Americannoun
noun
Usage
What does Wednesday mean? Wednesday is the weekday between Tuesday and Thursday.In much of North and South America, where most countries (including the U.S. and Canada) consider the calendar week to begin on Sunday, Wednesday is the fourth day of the week. (In other places, where the week is considered to begin on Saturday or Monday, Wednesday is the fifth or third day of the week.)Regardless of when the week officially begins, in many places Wednesday is considered the third day of the workweek, the five-day span from Monday to Friday during which many people work (with Saturday and Sunday considered the weekend).Because Wednesday falls directly in the middle of the workweek (around what is called midweek), with two days on either side, it is sometimes informally referred to as hump day. This is a humorous way of expressing the idea that it is the day on which everyone makes it “over the hump,” as if the workweek were a hill with Wednesday as the point after which everything starts to be “downhill” toward the weekend.The word Wednesdays can be used as an adverb meaning every Wednesday or on Wednesdays, as in I work Wednesdays or The shop is closed Wednesdays.To indicate the general time of day during which something will happen on a Wednesday, the word can be followed by the general time, as in Wednesday morning, Wednesday afternoon, Wednesday evening, and Wednesday night. Example: I’m glad it’s finally Wednesday and the workweek is halfway over, but that means we still have two days to go.
Etymology
Origin of Wednesday
before 950; Middle English Wednesdai, Old English *Wēdnesdæg, mutated variant of Wōdnesdæg Woden's day; cognate with Dutch Woensdag, Danish onsdag; translation of Latin Mercuriī diēs day of Mercury
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.
NASA’s Artemis II mission sped off to the moon Wednesday, and the space agency hopes eventually to build a permanent moon base.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 4, 2026
They were arrested on Wednesday at three different east London properties.
From BBC • Apr. 4, 2026
It was almost a surprise that he didn’t announce it in his Wednesday speech.
From Slate • Apr. 4, 2026
The rapper played the first of two shows Wednesday night, performing new songs and oldies on a giant dome on the stadium’s floor.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 3, 2026
From their ranks at Corinthian Hall, Wednesday night’s audience selected a five-man committee to test Maggie and Leah and decide whether the rappings were a humbug.
From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock
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.
