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workaday

American  
[wur-kuh-dey] / ˈwɜr kəˌdeɪ /

adjective

  1. of or befitting working days; characteristic of a workday and its occupations.

  2. ordinary; commonplace; everyday; prosaic.


workaday British  
/ ˈwɜːkəˌdeɪ /

adjective

  1. being a part of general human experience; ordinary

  2. suitable for working days; everyday or practical

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of workaday

1150–1200; alteration (probably after nowadays ) of earlier worky-day workday, alteration (by association with holiday ) of Middle English werkeday, obscurely derived from work and day

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.

But as chipmakers prioritise the lucrative AI industry, they are producing fewer of the more workaday chips used in everyday consumer electronics like phones and laptops, pushing up device prices.

From Barron's • Apr. 22, 2026

B.J. in 2009 Los Angeles drumming at a live-band karaoke night with a group of fellow workaday musicians played by his real-life backers, Free Nationals.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 26, 2026

In a 1991 interview, Kurosawa recalled the origins of “Seven Samurai” as a story about the workaday existence of a single samurai.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 6, 2026

This fundamentally misunderstands the appeal of conspiracies, though, which is that it’s more fun and exciting to believe in them instead of in workaday truths.

From Slate • May 24, 2025

I simply wrote textbook examples of our workaday narrative, veritable style sheets that Hoagland even used to remind the other analysts of how it ought to be done.

From "Native Speaker" by Chang-rae Lee

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