in the long run

Idioms  

1. Over a lengthy period of time, in the end. For example, He realized that in the long run, their argument wouldn't seem so awful. This expression, which originated as at the long run in the early 1600s, presumably alludes to a runner who continues on his course to the end. Economist John Maynard Keynes used it in a much-quoted quip about economic planning: “In the long run we are all dead.” The antonym, in the short run, meaning “over a short period of time,” dates only from the 1800s. The novelist George Eliot used both in a letter (October 18, 1879): “Mrs. Healy's marriage is surely what you expected in the long or short run.”

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

in the long run

Inverter systems can cost thousands of dollars -- not dissimilar to petrol generators depending on the size -- but proponents say running costs are lower in the long run.

From Barron's ● Jul. 25, 2026

Whether they succeed in the long run remains to be seen, but in the process, they are going to make your movie-going and likely TV-viewing experiences more tiresome.

From Salon ● Jul. 20, 2026

To be safer in the long run, the court could use not just force but a little help on the judgment front.

From Slate ● Jul. 15, 2026

The core rate is a better predictor of inflation trends in the long run.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 13, 2026

Grand visions, even ones that prove as prescient as Washington’s, must nevertheless negotiate the damnable particularities that history in the short run tosses up before history in the long run arrives to validate the vision.

From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis

Related Words

• already
• belatedly
• eventually
• someday
• sooner or later
• subsequently
• ultimately