red letter day
A particularly significant day; a day of personal or sectarian celebration.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“Today is a red letter day for our family.”
“Graduating from university after years of hard work was truly a red letter day for her.”
“The signing of the peace treaty marked a red letter day in the nation's history, signaling the end of decades of conflict.”
The expression alludes to a practice dating to classical antiquity, wherein important dates were marked in red ink on calendars. It remains a surviving trace of the ecclesiastical and civil custom of distinguishing festivals and saints' days from the black-inked mundane.
- 01
a cold day in July
The time of occurrence of an event that will never happen.
- 02
a day late and a dollar short
Too late and too feeble to achieve the desired effect.
- 03
a year and a day
A long time.
- 04
all one's born days
One's whole life.
- 05
as the day is long
Unceasingly; very; thoroughly; to a very high degree.
- 06
bad hair day
A day when things seem to be unmanageable or go wrong.
- 07
bad old days
The past, seen as a time when things were worse.
- 08
banyan day
In British naval tradition, a day of the week when galley kitchens served no meat on board ship.
Last updated August 10, 2026