Groundhog Day

noun

1

: February 2 observed traditionally as a day that indicates six more weeks of winter if sunny or an early spring if cloudy

2

or less commonly groundhog day plural Groundhog Days also groundhog days : a situation in which the same usually negative or monotonous experiences occur repeatedly or are felt to occur repeatedly with no change or correction

Last month … I wrote all about how this lockdown has stolen my fashion mojo, locking me in a Groundhog Day of joggers and knitted sets.

—Penny Goldstone

How long before this Groundhog Day cycle of anxiety and illness ends and we can go back to some version of normal?

—Michiko Kakutani

The reality is that climate negotiations have long been stalled, lost in a Groundhog Day cycle of yearly meetings ending in plans for more meetings.

—Ruth Greenspan Bell and Barry Blechman

… the unrelenting endless cycle of groundhog days and going nowhere wears thin.

—Joan O'Donnell

Examples of Groundhog Day in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Directed by Jason Lester and choreographed by Alex Wong, the video features the Groundhog Day actor, 74, as its official narrator, book-ending Laufey's vocal spin on the Christmas classic. —Ilana Kaplan, People.com, 1 Nov. 2024

December 21, 2024: December solstice February 2, 2025: Groundhog Day and Candlemas, a holy day in the Christian calendar (midpoint between the solstice and equinox). —Jamie Carter, Forbes, 31 Oct. 2024

Happy Death Day is about a Groundhog Day–style loop that always ends with Tree Gelbman (Jessica Rothe) getting killed by a weirdo in a baby mask. —Bethy Squires, Vulture, 23 Oct. 2024

Meteorologists seem to exist in a similar space, significant enough even to be a movie hero (see: Groundhog Day or Nic Cage’s The Weather Man), though not on the level of a movie lawyer or cop. —Ade D. Adeniji, WIRED, 17 Sep. 2024

Word History

Etymology

from the superstition that a groundhog emerging from its burrow returns to hibernate if it sees its shadow on this day; (sense 2) after the film Groundhog Day (1993), with screenplay by Danny Rubin and Harold Ramis, in which the main character is forced to relive the same day (February 2, Groundhog Day) until he learns certain life lessons

First Known Use

1852, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

Groundhog Day

noun

: February 2 when according to tradition the groundhog comes out of its burrow and if it sees its shadow and is frightened back underground there will be six more weeks of winter