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

The other three cross-quarter days of the year include Groundhog Day on February 2, May Day on May 1 and Lammas on August 1. —Jamie Carter, Forbes, 28 Oct. 2024

We were shown to our room, which had been decorated like a scene from Happy Death Day, complete with colored lights and the radio playing the song the lead character Tree hears when the same day begins (after she is killed the night before, like Groundhog Day with a spooky twist). —Julie Jordan, People.com, 25 Oct. 2024

What My Old Ass really aims to be is something like a Gen-Z Groundhog Day, borrowing a fantastical conceit without getting in the weeds regarding the details and diving into more philosophical yet personal waters. —David Fear, Rolling Stone, 27 Sep. 2024

Essentially, Edge of Tomorrow plays like the 1993 Bill Murray classic Groundhog Day, except this day that repeats over and over involves a battle with aliens. —Tim Lammers, Forbes, 2 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