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In its earliest appearances in English, in the 16th century, heyday was used as an interjection that expressed elation or wonder (similar to our word hey, from which it derives). Within a few decades, heyday was seeing use as a noun meaning "high spirits." This sense can be seen in Act III, scene 4 of Hamlet, when the Prince of Denmark tells his mother, "You cannot call it love; for at your age / The heyday in the blood is tame…." The word's second syllable is not thought to be borne of the modern word day (or any of its ancestors), but in the 18th century the syllable's resemblance to that word likely influenced the development of the now-familiar use referring to the period when one's achievement or popularity has reached its zenith.
Examples of heyday in a Sentence
The California Independent Booksellers Alliance, Los Angeles Times, 30 Apr. 2025
Shares have pulled back more than 21% in 2025, and are almost 31% below the January all-time high, a stark contrast to the massive runup Nvidia saw in the heyday of the AI boom.
—Brian Evans, CNBC, 30 Apr. 2025
In the early 1900s heyday, more than 400 members of Harmony Valley Creamery Association were producing 1,200 pounds of butter and cheese per day, according to the Wine History Project.
—Kathe Tanner, Sacbee.com, 23 Apr. 2025
OneTaste in its heyday was a titillating blend of San Francisco’s counterculture and its tech boom — a wellness startup that made headlines by advocating female empowerment through orgasm.
—Devlin Barrett, New York Times, 4 Apr. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Heyday.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/heyday. Accessed 9 May. 2025.
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