those were the days

idiom

used to say that a period of time in the past was pleasant and often better than the present time
When I was a kid, we spent our summers at the beach. Those were the days!

Examples of those were the days in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web And within those, there were adventures and those were the days before mobile phones. Cnt Editors, Condé Nast Traveler, 27 July 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'those were the days.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Dictionary Entries Near those were the days

Cite this Entry

“Those were the days.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/those%20were%20the%20days. Accessed 26 Apr. 2024.

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!