red letter day
2
4.1
- noun
- Informal
:
día memorable
- Today is a red letter day because I finally graduated from college.
Examples
-
Partly as a memorial to this red-letter day and partly as a precaution, he carried with him a Heart Valve Patient Identification Card from American Edwards Laboratories in Santa Ana, California.
Academic text (2005) -
It was a red-letter day in my life.
Blog text (16) -
Kimono, it's a red letter day for the
Fiction book (2002) -
Today will be a red-letter day.
Fiction book (1998) -
This is a red-letter day!
Blog text (25) -
August 19, 1841, was a red-letter day in the history of bankruptcy law.
Academic text (2018) -
"A red-letter day!
Fiction book (1990) -
The red-letter day that the astrologer had promised began at eleven o'clock that morning.
Fiction book (1998) -
It was a red-letter day, therefore, when in the spring of 1994 I received a fan letter from Guy regarding a little autobiographical essay I had written for a comparative literature compendium.
Academic text (2008) -
For many families, the birth of a child is a red letter day filled with joy and celebration.
Synonyms
A day you remember because it was very happy or important
Antonyms
Surface Forms
Morphology
red + letter + day
The meaning 'a particularly significant or memorable day' depends on a cultural/historical convention (important days printed in red) rather than straightforward composition of 'red' + 'letter' + 'day'. A B1 learner who knows the individual words would unlikely infer this conventional, idiomatic sense without prior exposure, so the phrase is non‑compositional and unpredictable.
Etymology
The phrase red letter day comes from old calendars where important dates were written in red ink. A date in red stood out as a day to celebrate, so the phrase now means 'a special or memorable' day.