indefinitely
Britishadverb
Explanation
Use the adverb indefinitely to describe something that happens for an unlimited amount of time or to an unlimited extent. Kittens could bat around a ball of string indefinitely. When your cousin postpones her wedding indefinitely after her fiancé’s “business trip” to Las Vegas, you probably want to hold off on buying a gift. They may work things out, but sometimes people intend indefinitely to be synonymous with forever. Like, “We can’t keep fighting over that weekend I spent in Las Vegas indefinitely…”
Vocabulary lists containing indefinitely
Holes
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"Curtis Aikens and the American Dream" and "Go For It!"
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Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie
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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.
The strategist doesn’t see bond yields — closely linked with energy prices this year — coming down as long as the Iran crisis continues, which it looks to be doing indefinitely.
From MarketWatch • May 21, 2026
Smith has now been prohibited from teaching indefinitely.
From BBC • May 16, 2026
Municipalities would be required “to act on applications rather than allowing projects to remain indefinitely under review,” the governor’s office said in a statement.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 15, 2026
Investors look to be recognizing the risks of assuming the AI trade can keep going indefinitely.
From Barron's • May 15, 2026
“You bet I wouldn’t. I don’t understand why a smart girl like you goes around booby-trapping herself. You could have stayed here indefinitely, you know. They’re both crazy about you.”
From "The Great Gilly Hopkins" by Katherine Paterson
Definitions 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.
