Kate Bornstein
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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
Erin Vanderhoof, Vanity Fair, 29 May 2026
Marc Jacobs Beauty is back, but not as a replica of its 2010s heyday.
—Conçetta Ciarlo, Vogue, 28 May 2026
Mercerat noted that the trend is more modern and wearable compared to the waistline’s Y2K heyday.
—Angela Velasquez, Footwear News, 27 May 2026
The heyday of the American partisan press came in the half century from 1783 until 1833.
—Encyclopedia Britannica, 26 May 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 1 Jun. 2026.
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