perpetually
Americanadverb
-
forever or for an indefinitely long time.
It is best to think of any software licensed in this way as perpetually licensed.
We seem to be locked perpetually in the past.
-
without intermission or interruption; continually.
The library received five more laptops to relieve the pressure on their perpetually busy media loan desk.
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with continued recurrence; regularly or repeatedly: I'm the girl who loses pens constantly, forgets about quizzes in math, and is perpetually late.
The city’s public schools, particularly in working-class neighborhoods, are perpetually understaffed.
I'm the girl who loses pens constantly, forgets about quizzes in math, and is perpetually late.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of perpetually
Explanation
Use the adverb perpetually if something is never, ever going to stop doing what it's doing, like your perpetually chattering cousin. Perpetually comes from the adjective perpetual, which comes from the Latin for "never stopping." Although there might be some things that might exist perpetually, like the universe (hopefully), we usually use perpetually for things that just feel like they're never going to end. If the coffee shop you go to is perpetually playing the same album, bring them a new one. A good synonym is incessantly.
Vocabulary lists containing perpetually
"Common Sense," Vocabulary from the pamphlet
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The Diary of a Young Girl
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Lyddie
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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.
One perpetually perplexing area of retirement planning for both individuals and professionals is how to spend down the money that we have so diligently saved.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 2, 2026
It was the sort of grinding, four-plus hour match Djokovic perpetually found a way to win.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 31, 2026
In 2024 then–Surgeon General Vivek Murthy identified one of the main culprits: “A ‘culture of comparison’—often perpetuated online—around milestones, parenting and achievements, ‘has left many families feeling exhausted, burned out, and perpetually behind.’
From Slate ● Aug. 11, 2026
Staggering losses from fuel theft are among the many factors contributing to Pemex’s perpetually debt-plagued status.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 3, 2026
Not to mention my eight feet of concrete, which has kept me perpetually in the shower.
From "I'll Give You the Sun" by Jandy Nelson
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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.
