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
Tony Maglio, HollywoodReporter, 2 Apr. 2026
Smuggler’s Cove, San Francisco The tiki heyday, the story goes, occurred during the middle of the 20th century, with Americans pining for exotic locales and fruity cocktails.
—Scott Hocker, TheWeek, 30 Mar. 2026
Despite the invocation of the term 60 years ago, stagflation’s heyday was in the ’70s, when economic growth cooled, wages stagnated, and prices were rising.
—Jill Schlesinger, Mercury News, 30 Mar. 2026
Plus the best entrance ritual seen in Dodger Stadium since Eric Gagné’s heyday from 2002 through ’04, when Gagné compiled 152 saves in three seasons, including a record 84 in a row.
—Jim Alexander, Oc Register, 29 Mar. 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 3 Apr. 2026.
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