eternally

American  

[ih-tur-nl-ee] / ɪˈtɜr nl i /

adverb

1. in a way that is ceaseless, endless, or perpetual.

   We call on all citizens to be eternally vigilant in ensuring that human rights are protected and sustained.

2. in a way that is enduring and unchanging.

   The couple is eternally grateful for the support shown by their community.

3. Metaphysics. in a way that exists outside of time, without beginning or end.

   I worry I will be eternally tormented in hell, or at the very least punished severely here on earth.

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Other Word Forms

• noneternally adverb
• quasi-eternally adverb

Etymology

Origin of eternally

eternal ( def. ) + -ly

Example Sentences

Last year, TV creator Mara Brock Akil adapted “Forever,” Blume’s 1975 story of the kind of mutually shared devotion that feels like it will last eternally, into a miniseries set in 2018 Los Angeles.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 10, 2026

Most of the unhappy denizens of Dante’s imagined hell are being eternally tormented for specific moral crimes in categories covering lust, gluttony, greed, anger, heresy, violence, fraud and treachery.

From Salon • Mar. 8, 2026

Barcelona's eternally unfinished Sagrada Familia has grown to become the world's tallest church, but a conflict with residents threatens to delay the finish date for the monument designed over 140 years ago.

From Barron's • Feb. 10, 2026

“One thing that I’ll always be eternally grateful to him for . . . is he introduced me to García Lorca when I was a kid,” his son later said.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 28, 2025

I once read a line in a Countee Cullen poem that said something about not being made to eternally weep.

From "Like Vanessa" by Tami Charles

Related Words

• perpetually