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red-letter day

red-letter day

5.1
A day you remember because it was very happy or important
  • noun
  • /ˈrɛdˌlɛtər deɪ/
translation icon : día memorable
  • Her wedding was a red-letter day that she will always cherish.

They also gave us a red letter day spa day for me and James to go to the spa, which we both need and I am so excited for this.

Examples

  • For good will and fair play it's going to be a red letter day, not only for Melbourne but for all Australia when the Olympic fanfare rings out and the Olympic flag is hoisted at the stadium.

  • Another big red-letter day for the Baileys.

  • But today is indeed a red-letter day.

  • This is a red-letter day.

  • Well, I guess this hasn't been exactly a red-letter day for any of us.

  • Today is a red-letter day because I finally graduated from university.

  • Winning the championship was a red-letter day for the entire team.

Synonyms

red letter day
vsred-letter day
  • Informal
2 4.1

A day that is very special and makes people happy

is the hyphenated form used in other writing styles
one for the book
vsred-letter day
  • Informal
8.6

An event you will always remember

is specifically a day rather than any event

Antonyms

683 1.0

Normal and not special or unusual

A daily pattern of plain unexciting activities like work and chores

How Memorable

momentous
  • Formal
46 7.0
historic
501 3.9
red-letter day
5.1
memorable
181 3.5
notable
112 3.7

Surface Forms

Morphology

red-letter + day

The literal parts 'red' (a color) and 'letter' (a written character) do not transparently combine to mean 'memorable or noteworthy day'; a B1 learner knowing the constituents would not predict this sense. The expression’s meaning depends on a historical/cultural convention (marking important dates in red) rather than compositional semantics, so it is idiomatic and not derivable from the words alone.

Etymology

The noun red-letter day comes from old calendars where special days were written in red with a clear letter so they stood out. So it now means 'a day that is easy to remember or very special'.