Dictionary.com
definitions
  • synonyms

long-drawn-out

[lawng-drawn-out, long-]
See more synonyms for long-drawn-out on Thesaurus.com
adjective
  1. lasting a very long time; protracted: a long-drawn-out story.
  2. of great length; long: a long-drawn-out line of soldiers.
Show More
Also drawn-out, long-drawn.

Origin of long-drawn-out

First recorded in 1900–05
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

boundlessdelayeddiffusedilatorydraggingdrawn-outlatelengthylimitlesslingeringlong-windedoverlongprolixprolongedprotractedslowsustainedtardyunendingverbose

Examples from the Web for long-drawn-out

Historical Examples

  • Then there came a long-drawn-out whisper from Sydney Barnes.

    The Avenger

    E. Phillips Oppenheim

  • Human history is like a long-drawn-out drama, in which we are actors.

    Gloria Crucis

    J. H. Beibitz

  • Do not present a long-drawn-out and padded dance that will weary everyone.

  • In that long-drawn-out monotony we made the most of trivialities.

  • The fall migration of the black-and-white is long-drawn-out.

British Dictionary definitions for long-drawn-out

long-drawn-out

adjective
  1. over-prolonged or extended
Show More
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012