First recorded in 1825–35
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
I drew that potent conclusion from it when I first saw it, before our summers grew hotter and a long-ago sight I’d planned to repeat became something closer to a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
From Salon ● Jul. 22, 2026
In the mural designed by the long-ago students, Chávez’s face was gone, covered up in swirls of color that gave no hint of what was once there.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 19, 2026
As they read your long-ago emails and memos, you want your years of hard work, passion and loyalty to your employer to jump off the page.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 3, 2026
Unlike the long-ago transition to the cloud, which undid many existing software firms, incumbents aren’t being complacent this time around.
From Barron's ● Mar. 13, 2026
Then she looked up at the old watermark left from a long-ago leak above my bed.
From "Hope Springs" by Jaime Berry
We can observe galaxies beyond the Hubble distance because the light reaching us today was emitted long ago, when those galaxies were much closer.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 25, 2026
Seattleites, however, can attest that Burning Man’s ruin began long ago, pretty much since Microsofties and Amazonians invaded it in the early aughts.
From Salon ● Jul. 24, 2026
Saudi Arabia long ago signed the NPT but has not signed the Additional Protocol.
From Slate ● Jul. 22, 2026
Newsom drew a parallel to the plague of retail theft that captivated the state not long ago, and which the state has successfully combated.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026
He made a short gesture with his hand, as if it was so long ago that there was no point in telling it all again.
From "Firegirl" by Tony Abbott
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.
