What does "unholiday" mean?

A day or period of time which is not a holiday, but is celebrated as if it were one.

What is a synonym for "unholiday"?

Common synonyms include: banal, beat, blah, bland, boring, cold.

adj, noun

adj, noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Noun

1
A day or period of time which is not a holiday, but is celebrated as if it were one.
"Yet the most touching gifts are often the ones that come as unbirthday or unholiday or unanniverary gifts."

Adjective

1
Grim or drab; the antithesis of festive.
"An air of gaiety and festal enjoyment, which contrasts singularly with the unholiday appearance of men and things in the interior of the country, reigns on the waters of the bays and rivers in the vicinity of the cities to a surprising degree."

"Yet the most touching gifts are often the ones that come as unbirthday or unholiday or unanniverary gifts."

From un- + holiday.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.