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

His job was to tell them not to put too much into cash versus other investments, because cash can’t outrun inflation in the long run.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 14, 2026

Elon Musk once predicted that an end to America’s federal electric-vehicle tax credit would be painful for Tesla at first, but beneficial to it in the long run.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 13, 2026

Tom Anderson has owned a neighborhood pub and wine shop at the edge of Eagle Rock for seven years and thinks that offloading commuter traffic could be helpful to the area in the long run.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026

"There is pressure due to their return but in the long run, it will benefit them as well as Afghanistan."

From BBC ● Sep. 1, 2026

I know it was something small and that in the long run, it’s nothing, but I can’t help but wonder what else she’s not telling me.

From "Dumplin'" by Julie Murphy

Related Words

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