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red-letter day

/ˌˈrɛd ˌlɛdər ˈdeɪ/
IPA guide

A wonderful or especially memorable day can be called a red-letter day. If your grandpa loves to fish, a red-letter day for him would be one he spends on a boat, reeling in one bass after another.

The day you win the Pulitzer Prize would qualify as a red-letter day — while for a preschooler, a red-letter day might be the day she gets to wear her Batman costume to the playground. The original red-letter day was a feast day or saint's day marked in red ink on church calendars. The tradition spread to academia and to many modern calendars as well.

Definitions of red-letter day
  1. noun
    a memorably happy or noteworthy day (from the custom of marking holy days in red on church calendars)
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    type of:
    day
    a day assigned to a particular purpose or observance
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