Idiom
red letter day
Meaning
A particularly significant day; a day of personal or sectarian celebration.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“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.”
Examples
simple
“Today is a red letter day for our family.”
contextual
“Graduating from university after years of hard work was truly a red letter day for her.”
complex
“The signing of the peace treaty marked a red letter day in the nation's history, signaling the end of decades of conflict.”
Origin
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.
Key words
Related idioms
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