weekday

American  

[week-dey] / ˈwikˌdeɪ /

noun

1. any day of the week except Sunday or, often, Saturday and Sunday.

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adjective

1. of or on a weekday.

   weekday occupations.

weekday British  

/ ˈwiːkˌdeɪ /

noun

1. any day of the week other than Sunday and, often, Saturday

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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!

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

Weekday fare featured potatoes, beans, barley and sturdy soups whose main ingredients included lentils and farfel.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 16, 2026

Police were called to Weekday Cross at 12:31 GMT on Wednesday.

From BBC • Feb. 6, 2024

All eyes are on the ability of H&M, which also owns Arket, Cos, Monki, & Other Stories, and Weekday, to improve its profit margins.

From Reuters • Sep. 15, 2023

It was 2021’s “The Weekday Vegetarians” by Jenny Rosenstrach, a 100-recipe, user-friendly title with dinner hits such as a “salad pizza” that started with store-bought dough and ended with dressed greens tossed over the top.

From Seattle Times • Feb. 21, 2023

Everything looked the same, but more still: the Weekday Warriors still sat on the benches outside the library, but their gossip was quiet, understated.

From "Looking for Alaska" by John Green