Kate Bornstein
Did you know?
The day in heyday originally had nothing to do with the kind of day that's made up of 24 hours. Heyday was first used in the first half of the 16th century as an extended form of the interjection hey, used since the 13th century to express elation or wonder, as it still often is in phrases like "hey, look at that!" The day part was most likely just an extra syllable tagged on for effect. By the end of the 16th century heyday had developed noun use with the meaning "high spirits," as when Shakespeare's Hamlet tells his mother, "You cannot call it love; for at your age / The heyday in the blood is tame …” It wasn't until the 18th century that the day syllable's resemblance to the word day 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
Stephen Underwood, Hartford Courant, 4 Mar. 2026
The mellow assurance of Beam’s team of professionals suggests the heyday of Laurel Canyon without quite conjuring any hippie ghosts.
—Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Pitchfork, 2 Mar. 2026
As Parker continues to grow in the southeastern part of the Denver metro area, its downtown Mainstreet is entering a heyday, according to business owners.
—Olivia Young, CBS News, 28 Feb. 2026
But by the 1970s and early ‘80s, South Beach, after its first heyday from the 1930s through the ‘60s, began falling apart.
—Miami Herald Archives, Miami Herald, 27 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for heyday
Cite this Entry
“Heyday.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/heyday. Accessed 9 Mar. 2026.
Copy Citation
