workaday
nounEtymology Middle English werkedei, from Old Norse virkr dagr (“working day”). Cognate to later workday; see work and day. Used in adjective sense from 16th century. By surface analysis, work + -a- + day. First attested in c. 1200.
workaday
adjUK /ˈwɜːkədeɪ/ · US /ˈwɜɹkədeɪ/
Etymology Middle English werkedei, from Old Norse virkr dagr (“working day”). Cognate to later workday; see work and day. Used in adjective sense from 16th century. By surface analysis, work + -a- + day. First attested in c. 1200.
1
Suitable for everyday use.
2
Mundane or commonplace.
- A retreat, my dear boys, signifies a withdrawal for a while from the cares of our life, the cares of this workaday world, in order to examine the state of our conscience, to reflect on the mysteries of holy religion and to understand better why we are here in this world."1916 December 29, James Joyce, chapter III, in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, New York, N.Y.: B[enjamin] W. Huebsch, →OCLC, page 124:
- But then something started to shift—the Burning Man aesthetic was creeping into the workaday world; festival culture went mainstream.2021 February 6, Rachel Monroe, “Ultra-fast Fashion Is Eating the World”, in The Atlantic:
- Related terms
- workday