heyday

interjection hey·day \ ˈhā-ˌdā \

|Updated on: 15 Jun 2018

Examples: heyday in a Sentence

Editor's Note: Did You Know?

Definition of heyday

archaic

—used to express elation or wonder

heyday was our Word of the Day on 02/01/2012. Hear the podcast!

Origin and Etymology of heyday

irregular from hey

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1599

in the meaning defined above

See Words from the same year

heyday

noun

Definition of heyday

1 archaic : high spirits

2 : the period of one's greatest popularity, vigor, or prosperity

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Examples of heyday in a Sentence

in its heyday, the circus was a major form of entertainment for small-town America

Recent Examples of heyday from the Web

For Digg, Joe Veix logged back in to Second Life, 15 years after its creation and a decade after its heyday.

— michelle weber, Longreads, "Maybe We’ll Finally Figure It All Out in Third Life," 13 June 2018
But that BlackBerry, known in its heyday as Research In Motion or RIM, still contributes much of the DNA inside a BlackBerry phone.

— edward c. baig, USA TODAY, "Still here? BlackBerry Key2 aims to keep faded iconic brand breathing," 7 June 2018
In his heyday with Pavement, he was known for his languid guitar work, his sunny hooks, the ramshackle way his songs seemed to hang together.

— ryu spaeth, The New Republic, "What Happened to the Cool Jerk of Indie Rock?," 4 June 2018
Barry Bonds, 2002 World Series: Barry Bonds, in his steroid heyday, had a monster World Series for the San Francisco Giants against the Los Angeles Angels.

— drew davison, star-telegram, "Dirk, Hamilton, Irvin, Bonds. Sports' greatest individual performances for naught," 3 June 2018
In its heyday as a train station, this space would have been home to the ticket counters and luggage services, and been a place for tired travelers to rest until their next trip.

— emily hines, Indianapolis Star, "See Indianapolis from a new perspective with these 7 postcard-worthy sites," 22 May 2018
And since her ’80s heyday, Jones hasn’t stopped serving up rapturous sounds and stylings from another universe.

— lauren valenti, Vogue, "Happy Birthday, Grace Jones! 18 Times the Fearless Pop Icon Broke the Beauty Mold," 19 May 2018
Click through the slideshow above to see the ship in its fighting heyday...

— craig hlavaty, Houston Chronicle, "Happy 'berth' day to the Battleship Texas, one of the Houston area's most beloved attractions," 17 May 2018
Though his fastball has dropped nearly 4 m.p.h. since his heyday, Harvey still attracts a crowd and offers — however slim — the chance to pay dividends as a reclamation project.

— anthony fenech, Detroit Free Press, "Could Detroit Tigers take a chance on Matt Harvey?," 5 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'heyday.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Did You Know?

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). Around the same time, "heyday" saw use as a noun meaning "high spirits." (This sense can be seen in Act III, Scene IV 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….") It wasn’t until the 18th century that English speakers, perhaps interpreting the "day" of the second syllable to mean "a time or period," began using "heyday" to refer to the period when one’s achievement or popularity has reached its zenith.