day-to-day

1 of 2

adjective

ˈdā-tə-ˈdā 

1

: taking place, made, or done in the course of days

in charge of day-to-day operations

also : everyday

day-to-day life

2

: providing for a day at a time with little thought for the future

an aimless day-to-day existence

day-to-day adverb

or day to day

struggling day-to-day [=every day] with depression

living day to day [=one day at a time]

… it's impossible to live with devastation day to day and not look on all the concern over one still-healthy individual as a vulgar spectacle.

—Robert Massa

day-to-day

2 of 2

noun

plural day-to-days

: a usual routine that occurs each day

… a feeling of hope and adventure that many of us lack in our day-to-day.

—Nathan Mattise

But the woman is fearless, living life in a perpetual state of curiosity despite her repetitive day-to-day.

—Alex Suskind

Synonyms of day-to-day

Adjective

• daily

Examples of day-to-day in a Sentence

Adjective

the day-to-day routine of commuting to work

Recent Examples on the Web

Adjective

When Sarah has more set up for Flour & Fern, there will be posts here directing you to where to find us for all of your future event and day-to-day needs! — Staff Report, Hartford Courant, 18 Sep. 2026

Their family friction and riches-to-rags plight ups the comic and dramatic ante, as the Wangs encounter the very different day-to-day lives of other Americans on their cross-country journey. — Literary Hub, 17 Sep. 2026

Noun

Invite your local Jewish Federation’s security director to help close any gaps in your day-to-day procedures and physical infrastructure and update your protocols where necessary. — Richard Priem, Sun Sentinel, 8 Sep. 2026

Broadcom and OpenAI worked together on the development of OpenAI's new Jalapeno chip, which is designed for the day-to-day use of models known as inference. — Kevin Stankiewicz, CNBC, 8 Sep. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

Adjective

1862, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun

1965, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for day-to-day

• aaa
• alleyway
• alumnae
• anime
• anyway
• arete
• attache
• axillae
• baa
• beaujolais
• bouvier
• breakaway

Video

Is It 'day today' or 'day-to-day'?

What about Day Tomorrow?

Kids Definition

day-to-day

adjective

ˈdāt-ə-ˌdā

1

: taking place, made, or done in the course of days

day-to-day problems

2

: providing for a day at a time with little thought of the future

a day-to-day existence