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PlainSpell

holiday

hol·i·dayUK /ˈhɒlɪˌdeɪ/noun, verb

holiday is spelled H-O-L-I-D-A-Y: 7 letters and 3 syllables (hol·i·day). It appears 46 times per million words in written English, the 2,204th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, holiday means “A day on which a religious event or secular celebration is traditionally observed” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of holiday is holidays.

How many letters and syllables are in holiday?

Letters7: H-O-L-I-D-A-Y
Syllables3: hol·i·day
In writing46 times per million words; the 2,204th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Same letters

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is holiday?

Holiday appears 46 times per million words in written English, the 2,204th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce holiday?

  • UK /ˈhɒlɪˌdeɪ/
  • UK /ˈhɒlədi/
  • UK /ˈhɒlɪdi/

Holiday has 3 syllables, split hol·i·day in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-holiday.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with holiday?

No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as holiday (/ɒlɪdeɪ/).

Spelled with the same letters in another order: hyaloid.

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of holiday

  • holidays plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • holyday
  • holidaying participle, present
  • holidayed participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does holiday mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    A day on which a religious event or secular celebration is traditionally observed.

    Near-synonyms: holy day, feast day, festival (feast day sense)

  2. 2

    A day declared free from work by the state or government.

  3. 3

    AustraliaUKA period of one or more days taken off work for leisure and often travel; often plural.

    How much holiday are you allowed?

  4. 4

    AustraliaUKA period during which pupils do not attend their school; often plural; rarely used for students at university (usually: vacation).

    I want to take a French course this summer holiday.

  5. 5

    A period during which, by agreement, the usual payments are not made.

    a mortgage payment holiday

  6. 6

    A gap in coverage, e.g. of paint on a surface, or sonar imagery.

verb

  1. 1

    UKTo take a period of time away from work or study.

  2. 2

    UKTo spend a period of time in recreational travel.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Holiday in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchfête (day on which a festival, religious event, or…), jour férié, jour de congé (day declared free from work by the government), congé, vacances (period of one or more days taken off work for…)
GermanFeiertag (day on which a festival, religious event, or…), gesetzlicher Feiertag, Ruhetag (day declared free from work by the government), Urlaub, Ferien (period of one or more days taken off work for…), reisen (to spend a period of time in recreational travel)
Portugueseferiado (day on which a festival, religious event, or…), férias (period of one or more days taken off work for…), tirar férias (to take a period of time away from work or study)
Spanishfestividad, fiesta (day on which a festival, religious event, or…), día festivo, feriado, día feriado, día de fiesta (day declared free from work by the government)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does holiday come from?

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”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after holiday