holiday

/ˈhɒlɪˌdeɪ/

//ˈhɒlɪˌdeɪ// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"holiday" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“holiday” has 9 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #2,207. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#2,207
frequency rank, English
2,646
“H” headwords
9
tracked misspellings
2
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A day on which a religious event or secular celebration is traditionally observed.

Corpus desk

Index EN-holiday · holiday · English

holiday · rank #2,207 · 9 variants · 2 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #2,207
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 2 pairs
  • VAR-MID 9 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,646
  • PHOTO-FINISH hole

Nearest frequency peer: hole (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “holiday”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “holiday” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

holiday vs holidays
88% similar
holiday vs Holliday
75% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for holiday
PropertyValue
Headwordholiday
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈhɒlɪˌdeɪ/
Letters7
Frequency rank#2,207
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs2
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “holiday”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).holidaylands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “hole” (#2,206), “interests” (#2,208), “guns” (#2,205). Among 2,646 “H” headwords, “holiday” is #2,207. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 9 spelling variants around holiday (IPA /ˈhɒlɪˌdeɪ/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #2,207 among 2,646 “H” headwords. Wiktionary lists 6 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for holiday, with forms such as "hholiday", "hloiday", and "hoilday". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 2 confusable-pair relationships, "holidays", "Holliday", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English halyday, holyday, halidei, haliȝdei, from Old English hāliġdæġ (“holy day, Sabbath”), equivalent to holy + day. Compare West Frisian hjeldei (“holiday”), Danish helligdag (“holiday”), Norwegian helligdag (“holiday”), Swedish helgdag (“ho… The correct English form is holiday, spelled H-O-L-I-D-A-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    A day on which a religious event or secular celebration is traditionally observed.
  2. 2
    A day declared free from work by the state or government.
  3. 3
    A period of one or more days taken off work for leisure and often travel; often plural.
  4. 4
    A period during which pupils do not attend their school; often plural; rarely used for students at university (usually: vacation).
  5. 5
    A period during which, by agreement, the usual payments are not made.
  6. 6
    A gap in coverage, e.g. of paint on a surface, or sonar imagery.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how holiday appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Near-synonyms: holy day, feast day, festival (feast day sense)
  2. Today is a Wiccan holiday!

Etymology

From Middle English halyday, holyday, halidei, haliȝdei, from Old English hāliġdæġ (“holy day, Sabbath”), equivalent to holy + day. Compare West Frisian hjeldei (“holiday”), Danish helligdag (“holiday”), Norwegian helligdag (“holiday”), Swedish helgdag (“holiday, feast”).

This word in other languages

festividad(Español)fête(Français)Feiertag(Deutsch)feriado(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • hholiday
  • hloiday
  • hoilday
  • holdiay
  • holiady
  • holidayy
  • holidday
  • holidya
  • ohliday

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of holiday - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

hholiday1hloiday2hoilday2holdiay2holiady2holidayy1holidday1holidya2
Edit distance from "holiday"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "holiday"?
"holiday" is spelled H-O-L-I-D-A-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈhɒlɪˌdeɪ/.
What does "holiday" mean?
As a noun, "holiday" means: A day on which a religious event or secular celebration is traditionally observed.
What words are commonly confused with "holiday"?
"holiday" is commonly confused with "holidays", "Holliday". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "holiday"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "holiday" is /ˈhɒlɪˌdeɪ/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "holiday"?
From Middle English halyday, holyday, halidei, haliȝdei, from Old English hāliġdæġ (“holy day, Sabbath”), equivalent to holy + day. Compare West Frisian hjeldei (“holiday”), Danish helligdag (“holiday”), Norwegian helligdag (“holiday”), Swedish he... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "holiday", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Ireland#2,210falling#2,203Italian#2,211letters#2,216

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).

jersey9 variantswalked9 variantssector9 variantsstrike9 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list