prolonged
Americanadjective
-
lasting a long time; lengthy.
Regular or prolonged absence from school without a valid reason may result in the absentee being barred from examinations.
-
lengthened or extended in time or space.
Technological innovations in the ICU have led to artificially prolonged life, with associated costs.
Abnormally shortened or prolonged telomeres are a hallmark of cancer.
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of prolonged
Explanation
Something prolonged is long and drawn-out — it's taking longer than it should. A prolonged wait is usually annoying. If a fan throws a drink on the court during a basketball game and it takes an hour to clean it up, and then another hour to re-wax the floor, and then another hour for the players to warm up again...that's a prolonged delay. Anything prolonged has been stretched out further than it should be. America's war with Vietnam was prolonged much longer than anyone expected. If something is tedious, time-consuming, and feels like it's taking forever, it's prolonged.
Vocabulary lists containing prolonged
The Call of the Wild
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Boy: Tales of Childhood
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Britain's Finest Hour Speech - Winston Churchill (1940)
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Prolonged instability begins altering behavior across the economy.
From MarketWatch • May 12, 2026
Prolonged Middle East tensions also put TSMC’s production lines at risk, as Taiwan relies heavily on imported fuel for electricity, and its advanced chip manufacturing is energy-intensive.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 16, 2026
Prolonged conflict forces the US and Israel to use up high-value assets to intercept comparatively low-cost threats.
From BBC • Mar. 5, 2026
Prolonged wars are bad for a typical stock-and-bond portfolio as governments borrow more and consumers spend less.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 2, 2026
Prolonged commercial rivalry between Genoa and Venice brought them to a state of bitter jealousy which led to furious wars.
From The Great Events by Famous Historians, Volume 07 by Johnson, Rossiter
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
