Meaning & use
pre-holiday
Last updated
Meaning
adjectivebefore a noun
Happening or done just before a holiday or vacation.
Grammar: Comes before a noun: pre-holiday shopping, pre-holiday rush. It is not used after a verb.
Patterns
- pre-holiday + noun
The store is having a pre-holiday sale this weekend.
We had a lot of pre-holiday errands to run before flying to Spain.
There is always a pre-holiday rush at the airport.
Common combinations
- pre-holiday sale
- I bought my winter coat at the pre-holiday sale.
- pre-holiday rush
- The pre-holiday rush at the supermarket was exhausting.
- pre-holiday check
- Do a pre-holiday check of your passport and tickets.
- pre-holiday shopping
- She finished her pre-holiday shopping early.
Synonyms and how they differ
- pre-vacation
- The usual American English equivalent; pre-holiday is more common in British English.
Opposites
Commonly confused: pre-holiday or pre-holiday?
pre-holiday vs pre-holiday
Not the same as holiday, which is the break itself; pre-holiday describes the time before it.
Practice
Which sentence uses pre-holiday correctly?
Choose one answer.
Pre-holiday is an adjective that goes before a noun, so 'pre-holiday sales' is correct. The other options use it as a verb or after a verb, which is not standard.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “pre-holiday”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.