come a long way

Idioms  

1. Make considerable progress or improvement, as in That's good, Rob—you've certainly come a long way. This usage, which transfers the “distance” of a long way to progress, gained considerable currency in the 1960s and 1970s in an advertising slogan for Virginia Slims cigarettes addressed especially to women: “You've come a long way, baby.”

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Example Sentences

But we have come a long way since 9/11, and the primary effort to undermine al-Qaida has been mostly achieved.

From Slate • Apr. 21, 2026

Jesse Kardon has come a long way from his days as a teenager messing around with Ableton in his bedroom.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 11, 2026

Apple has come a long way from its days as a scrappy underdog in the personal-computing world.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 31, 2026

Hall was a highly-rated talent at Chelsea, but he has come a long way since Tuchel first trialled him in a back three against Chesterfield.

From BBC • Mar. 18, 2026

“Well, sir, he says he’s come a long way on purpose to join Efrafa. That’s why I thought you might like to see him.”

From "Watership Down: A Novel" by Richard Adams