yesterday

1 of 2

adverb

yes·​ter·​day ˈye-stər-(ˌ)dā How to pronounce yesterday (audio)
-dē
1
: on the day last past : on the day preceding today
2
: at a time not long past : only a short time ago
I wasn't born yesterday

yesterday

2 of 2

noun

1
: the day last past : the day next before the present
2
: recent time : time not long past
3
: past time
usually used in plural

Examples of yesterday in a Sentence

Adverb It rained heavily yesterday afternoon. I mailed the application early yesterday morning. It was good to see you yesterday. Noun Yesterday's game was canceled because of the rain. The radio program features yesterday's songs as well as today's. Today's cars aren't all that different from the models of yesterday.
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
Organizers continued the campaign in yesterday’s elections. Laura Gersony, The Arizona Republic, 6 Mar. 2024 John Hunter Nemechek, who won yesterday’s Xfinity race, runs toward the front, along with Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Larson and Kyle Busch. Shane Connuck, Charlotte Observer, 3 Mar. 2024 In yesterday’s episode, one of our segments incorrectly said Leap Years only occur in centuries that are evenly divided by 400. CNN, 29 Feb. 2024 Together with more than two dozen other European media groups, Springer yesterday launched a $2.3 billion lawsuit against Google in the district court of Amsterdam, which is a major European destination for antitrust damages claims. David Meyer, Fortune, 29 Feb. 2024 In the meantime, Broward County Public Schools’ superintendent said yesterday that just 33 students out of the school’s nearly 1,100 were still unvaccinated. Daniel Engber, The Atlantic, 22 Feb. 2024 As Jeremy wrote yesterday, Google had until this point firmly planted its models in the proprietary camp in the openness debate surrounding AI. Sage Lazzaro, Fortune, 22 Feb. 2024 Washington keeps failing because politicians from yesterday can't lead us into tomorrow. Allison Novelo, CBS News, 22 Feb. 2024 And at a skittish time for Wall Street, consider Apollo, where shares are up about 20% year-to-date, or KKR is up about 17% in that period (as of 4:30 PM PT yesterday). Allie Garfinkle, Fortune, 14 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'yesterday.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Adverb

Middle English yisterday, from Old English giestran dæg, from giestran yesterday + dæg day; akin to Old High German gestaron yesterday, Latin heri, Greek chthes

First Known Use

Adverb

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of yesterday was before the 12th century

Dictionary Entries Near yesterday

Cite this Entry

“Yesterday.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/yesterday. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

yesterday

1 of 2 adverb
yes·​ter·​day ˈyes-tərd-ē How to pronounce yesterday (audio)
1
: on the day before today
2
: at a time not long past

yesterday

2 of 2 noun
1
: the day next before the present
2
: recent time : time not long past

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