a day after the fair
Syllables: a day aft·er the fair/ə ˈdeɪ ˌɑːftə ðə ˈfɛə/US/ə ˈdeɪ ˌæftɚ ðə ˈfɛɚ/
a day after the fair adverb: too late.
Adverb
a day after the fair (not comparable)
- Too late.
- You are in your loue as free as in your care, / You're come euen iuſt, a day after the fayre.1605, [Thomas Heywood], If You Know Not Me, You Know No Bodie: Or, The Troubles of Queene Elizabeth, London: […] [Thomas Purfoot] for Nathaniel Butter, →OCLC, signatures G3, recto – G3, verso
- 'Captain Pendle is coming to Beorminster this week, Miss Whichello.' / 'Oh,' said the little old lady, with a satirical smile, 'you are a day after the fair, Mr Cargrim. I heard that news this morning.' / 'Indeed! But the bishop only sent for Captain Pendle yesterday.' / 'Quite so; and Miss Arden...1900, Fergus Hume, “Mr Baltic on the Trail”, in Bishop Pendle: Or, The Bishop’s Secret, Chicago, Ill.; New York, N.Y.: Rand, McNally & Company, →OCLC, page 249
Origin of a day after the fair
The term refers to someone who has missed a fair (“community gathering to celebrate and exhibit local achievements; event for public entertainment and trade, etc.”) by coming to visit it a day late.
Words that rhyme with a day after the fair
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- declare
- hair
- Sinclair
- where
- ayr
- care
- layer
- mayor
- parterre
- fare
- glare
- lair
- pear
- prayer
- snare
- compare
- dare
- rare
- share
- swear
- ware
- wear and tear
- Ayer
- blare
- flair
- forbear
- Kerr
- laissez faire
- mousquetaire
- pare
- prepare
- repair
- stare
- unfair
- yare
- -ware
- abear
- aflare
- despair
- glair
- heir
- impair
- Pierre
- reair
- scare
- tare
- trillionaire
- Voltaire
Questions about a day after the fair
- What does a day after the fair mean?
- A day after the fair means too late.
- What part of speech is a day after the fair?
- A day after the fair is an adverb.
- How do you pronounce a day after the fair?
- A day after the fair is pronounced /ə ˈdeɪ ˌɑːftə ðə ˈfɛə/ (UK).
Words near a day after the fair in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: a day after the fair (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-a day after the fair.wav.
Cite this entry: “a day after the fair.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/a_day_after_the_fair. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.