Black Friday

American  

[blak frahy-dey, -dee] / ˈblæk ˈfraɪ deɪ, -di /

noun

1. September 24, 1869, the date of a financial panic sparked by gold speculators.

2. the day after Thanksgiving, one of the busiest shopping days because of discounts offered by retailers.

   I sign up for promotional emails at my favorite stores before Black Friday so I don’t miss any exceptional bargains.

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Black Friday Idioms  

1. Also Black Monday, Black Tuesday, etc. A day of economic catastrophe, as in We feared there'd be another Black Friday . This usage dates from September 24, 1869, a Friday when stock manipulators Jay Gould and James Fisk tried to corner the gold market and caused its collapse. The adjective black has been appended to similar occasions ever since, including October 29, 1929, the Tuesday of the market collapse that marked the start of the Great Depression, and Black Monday of October 19, 1987, when the stock market experienced its greatest fall since the Great Depression.

2. Any day marked by great confusion or activity, as in It was just my luck to be traveling on Black Tuesday . This usage, too, is based on the events of 1869, marked by economic chaos. It has since been extended to other kinds of confusion, such as an accident hampering traffic during the evening rush hour.

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Etymology

Origin of Black Friday

First recorded in 1865–70; from black in the sense “marked by disaster or misfortune”; the 1951 sense “day after Thanksgiving” originally so called from the troublesome traffic caused by shoppers and later re-explained with reference to the use of black ink to record business profits

Example Sentences

Both offer frequent promotions, especially around Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

From Salon • Mar. 27, 2026

Retail prices started falling beginning in October, with the biggest drops before Black Friday, Harvard’s Cavallo said.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 16, 2026

It said it processed 837 million transactions on the Black Friday through Cyber Monday weekend.

From MarketWatch • Feb. 12, 2026

The monthly rise - larger than expected - comes after sales fell unexpectedly in November, even though it included Black Friday sales.

From BBC • Jan. 23, 2026

If she doesn’t sell a billion shirts and twelve million belts on Black Friday, the world will end.

From "Speak" by Laurie Halse Anderson