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

Unlike the 2011 Groundhog Day blizzard that meteorologists predicted days in advance, this storm was harder to pinpoint, said National Weather Service meteorologist David Beachler at the time. —Kori Rumore, Chicago Tribune, 1 Dec. 2024

Building upon the rules originally established in Groundhog Day, Palm Springs offers its own unique twist on the story. —Jennifer M. Wood, WIRED, 7 Nov. 2024

Take Murray, a full 13 years removed from his last episode of SNL when he got overlooked for the 1993 comedy classic Groundhog Day. —Mara Reinstein, The Hollywood Reporter, 18 Nov. 2024

The idea of Groundhog Day came from a German custom, which had to do with a badger seeing his shadow. —Corey Buhay, Outside Online, 7 Nov. 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