workday
Americannoun
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a day on which work is done; working day.
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the part of a day during which one works.
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the length of time during a day on which one works.
a seven-hour workday.
adjective
noun
adjective
Usage
What does workday mean? A workday is any day that you work. Most commonly, workday refers to one of the days in the workweek, the span of (often five) days that are not the weekend and when many people work. The standard workweek is from Monday through Friday, with Saturday and Sunday being considered the weekend, though working schedules vary widely. Many full-time jobs involve a 40-hour workweek consisting of five eight-hour workdays. In this sense, workweek refers to all the time spent working in a week, and a workday refers to the hours spent working in a day. Workday sometimes refers just to the part of the day that you work, as in After the workday, I like to unwind by taking a walk around the lake before I go home for the night. The word workday is sometimes used to distinguish it from other nonwork days during a certain period, as in My vacation is 11 days away—and only eight workdays!The workweek can also be called the working week, and a workday can also be called a working day. Workday is sometimes used as an adjective meaning commonplace, ordinary, or everyday, as in It has average, workday features—nothing special. The variant workaday is more commonly used to mean the same thing. Example: My workday consists of catching up on emails for the first hour or so, and then I’m in meetings for several hours, leaving me an hour or two to get some actual work done.
Etymology
Origin of workday
1400–50; late Middle English werkday, Old English weorcdæg. See work, 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.
A typical workday for Granados entails diving 10 metres below the surface with an oxygen tank to monitor the precious gardens.
From Barron's • May 7, 2026
She said students who attended the program, which has a play-based curriculum and runs the length of a workday, arrived with more confidence and often volunteered to be class leaders.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 22, 2026
Gorka has said his workday begins with a drive to the White House while listening to his favorite podcast, hosted by pro-Trump military historian Victor Davis Hanson.
From Salon • Apr. 22, 2026
That’s what my friend asked when I sent him a snapshot of my workday weirdness.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 19, 2026
Nearby, at the distribution warehouse of the Chicago Inter Ocean, a widely read and respected newspaper, a young Irish immigrant—and staunch supporter of Carter Harrison—completed his workday.
From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
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.
