long-term
Americanadjective
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covering a relatively long period of time.
a long-term lease.
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maturing over or after a relatively long period of time.
a long-term loan; a long-term bond.
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(of a capital gain or loss) derived from the sale or exchange of an asset held for more than a specified time, as six months or one year.
adjective
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lasting, staying, or extending over a long time
long-term prospects
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finance maturing after a long period of time
a long-term bond
Etymology
Origin of long-term
First recorded in 1905–10
Explanation
Something that's long-term has lasted for quite a while. If you have a long-term girlfriend, she's been in your life for years. Use the adjective long-term to describe things that are so enduring that they're nearly permanent. Someone who's a long-term resident of Canada has lived there for a very long time, and news of long-term unemployment is discouraging because it means people have been out of work for months and months. Long-term was originally a word describing only insurance policies, in the 1870's.
Vocabulary lists containing long-term
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.
Together, the discoveries show that long-term regional continuity and widespread genetic connections were not mutually exclusive.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 2, 2026
“But we’re getting there around long-term tungsten supply.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 2, 2026
In September, Seoul announced plans for a 162.3 trillion won "Future Fund" next year, aimed at channelling record tax revenues from the country’s chip boom into long-term growth.
From Barron's ● Nov. 2, 2026
In October, Mageean wed her long-term partner Thomas Moran in a small civil ceremony in Belfast.
From BBC ● Nov. 1, 2026
“They went' in and out of production, which suggests to me that we are looking at a long-term but dynamic system.”
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
