weekday
Americannoun
-
weekdays
plural
adjective
noun
Usage
What is a weekday? A weekday is any day that is not a weekend day. Since the weekend is considered to consist of Saturday and Sunday, the weekdays are Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. (Even though Friday evening is sometimes considered the start of the weekend, Friday is still considered a weekday.)The evenings of weekdays are called weeknights. The word week most commonly refers to any period of seven consecutive days, or to the seven-day period on the calendar that begins on Sunday and ends on Saturday. However, in weekday and weeknight, it refers to the five-day period that’s often considered the workweek or school week. The standard workweek is from Monday through Friday, though working schedules vary widely. Days of the workweek can be called workdays. Weekdays are usually (but not always) workdays or school days. For this reason, terms like weekday and weeknight are typically used—instead of just saying day or night—to distinguish them from the days and nights on the weekend. The word weekdays can be used as an adverb meaning on weekdays—Monday through Friday. The word weekends can be used as an adverb in the same way, as in We’re open weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., but we’re closed weekends. Example: I don’t usually like to be out so late on a weekday, but I couldn’t miss this!
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of weekday
before 900; Middle English; Old English wicdæg. See week, day
Explanation
If it's not Saturday or Sunday, today is a weekday. Better get to bed early tonight — tomorrow's another weekday and you've got school! You can categorize every day of the week as either a weekday or the weekend. Monday through Friday are weekdays, which for most people means work or school. The word weekday can also be used as an adjective, to describe something that happens on one of these days, like your weekday routine or the weekday traffic on your commute. This word stems from the Old English wicudæge, and it originally meant "any day but Sunday."
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:
The Irish personality said it was "properly exciting" to be hosting the station's 16:00-19:00 show every weekday from November.
From BBC ● Sep. 28, 2026
But by afternoon on a recent weekday, Josh Charles actually looks like he teleported to the past as he collapses into a seat inside his production trailer in upstate New York.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2026
Buddhist, Taoist and sometimes both, the temples on weekday mornings are packed with ordinary people burning offerings and whispering prayers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 6, 2026
Early one morning on a recent weekday, Amber Nguyen was driving her 2025 Lexus SUV on a highway to a work meeting when she heard a loud bang.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 30, 2026
With no money to spare, they planned for a quiet, private weekday wedding and a modest honeymoon, and then Pollard would begin his long journey back to the saddle.
From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand
To shore up its numbers, Little League has rolled out initiatives, including schedules that allow children to play club on the weekends and for their Little League team on weekdays.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 4, 2026
Notifications would be silenced during school hours, defined as 8:00 am to 3:00 pm on weekdays between August 15 and June 15.
From Barron's ● Aug. 26, 2026
Listen to Matt Chorley live from Westminster, weekdays from 14:00 on BBC Radio 5 Live.
From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026
South Korea extended dollar-won trading to 24 hours on weekdays, effective Monday.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 2026
At first Klenam and I only went along to the farm on weekends, but as we grew older, we started going after school on weekdays too.
From "Flying Through Water" by Mamle Wolo
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.
