Meanings
alternative back in day
- idiomaticinformaltemporal locationIn the distant past; especially, at a time fondly remembered (the good old days).
I wanted to do a song that epitomizes the feeling and vibe from back in the day while still being current.
1995 April 8, Havelock Nelson, quoting Jemini, “Mercury Debut Rapper Jemini Proudly Displays All His ‘Scars’”, in Billboard, volume 107, number 14, Nielsen Business Media, →ISSN, page 182 more examples
Sean May played like they did back in the day, kind of like 29 long years ago, when his father led Indiana to a national championship in 1976.
2005 April 5, Joe Lapointe, “COLLEGE BASKETBALL; North Carolina's Leader Does His Father Proud”, in The New York Times, retrieved 27 Jun 2010Ah, back in the day. After stumbling out of the service entrance, and wandering to the beach to swim off our buzz, we would barefoot it down the beach to the Outrigger, where Mr. Don would sometimes do a cameo at the microphone.
2009, Everett Peacock, The Parrot Talks in Chocolate, Everett Peacock, →ISBN, page 31Synonyms: at the time, at that time, then, back then, BITD
Synonyms & antonyms
prepositional phraseIn the distant past; especially, at a time fondly remembered (the good old days).
Translations
Chinese Mandarin 從前 /从前
- 從前 /从前 (cóngqián)in the distant past
Finnish aikoinaan, ennen vanhaan
- aikoinaanin the distant past
- ennen vanhaanin the distant past
French dans le temps, à l'époque
- dans le tempsin the distant past
- à l'époquein the distant past
German damals, früher
- damalsin the distant past
- früherin the distant past
Greek τα παλιά τα χρόνια
- τα παλιά τα χρόνια (ta paliá ta chrónia)in the distant past
Hebrew לְפָנִים
- לְפָנִים (lefaním)in the distant past
Italian quando c'era lui (fascistic)
- quando c'era lui (fascistic)in the distant past
Japanese 昔
- 昔 (mukashi)in the distant past
Polish kiedyś
- kiedyśin the distant past
Portuguese naquele tempo, naquela época
- naquele tempoin the distant past
- naquela épocain the distant past
Romanian pe vremuri
- pe vremuriin the distant past
Russian в старину́
- в старину́ (v starinú)in the distant past
Spanish entonces, en aquellos tiempos
- entoncesin the distant past
- en aquellos tiemposin the distant past
Turkish bir zamanlar
- bir zamanlarin the distant past
Cite this entry
back in the day. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/back%20in%20the%20day
“back in the day.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/back%20in%20the%20day. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “back in the day,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/back%20in%20the%20day.
Source: back in the day on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.