perpetual

American  

[per-pech-oo-uhl] / pərˈpɛtʃ u əl /

adjective

1. continuing or enduring forever; everlasting.

   Synonyms:

   enduring, permanent

   Antonyms:

   temporary

2. lasting an indefinitely long time.

   perpetual snow.

3. continuing or continued without intermission or interruption; ceaseless.

   a perpetual stream of visitors all day.

   Synonyms:

   uninterrupted, unending, constant, incessant, continuous

   Antonyms:

   discontinuous

4. blooming almost continuously throughout the season or the year.

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noun

1. a hybrid rose that is perpetual.

2. a perennial plant.

perpetual British  

/ pəˈpɛtjʊəl /

adjective

1. (usually prenominal) eternal; permanent

2. (usually prenominal) seemingly ceaseless because often repeated

   your perpetual complaints

3. horticulture blooming throughout the growing season or year

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noun

1. (of a crop plant) continually producing edible parts: perpetual spinach

2. a plant that blooms throughout the growing season

Synonym Usage

See eternal.

Other Word Forms

• perpetuality
  noun
• perpetualness
  noun
• nonperpetual
  adjective
• quasi-perpetual
  adjective
• perpetually
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of perpetual

First recorded in 1300–50; late Middle English perpetuall, from Latin perpetuālis “permanent, universal, general,” equivalent to perpetu(us) “continuous, uninterrupted” ( per- “through, thoroughly” + pet-, base of petere “to seek, reach for” + -uus adjective suffix derived from a verb) + -ālis adjective suffix; replacing Middle English perpetuel, from Middle French, from Latin as above; see per-, -al ¹

Explanation

Use the adjective perpetual to describe something that never ends or changes. If you're a perpetual procrastinator, your dilly-dallying ways are never going to improve. It may be true that the only constant is change, but English nevertheless has no shortage of words to describe things that never change: everlasting, eternal, and permanent, for example — and this word, perpetual, from the Latin perpetuus, "continuous." In casual usage, though, you might hear someone say "This perpetual bad weather needs to clear." Maybe it should come as no surprise to find people using the word to describe things that are not truly everlasting — since so few things really are.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

perpetual

Those include worries about competition from cryptocurrency perpetual futures or “perps,” which Ackman views as holding little appeal for ICE’s big institutional-investor customers.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 13, 2026

What new immigrants might inflict on this country is the perpetual worry of immigration restrictionists — and yet history keeps proving them wrong.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 1, 2026

Financial exchanges are another overlooked theme, as Citrini sees “CME’s monopoly coming to an end” due to a landmark shift in March 2026 when S&P Dow Jones Indices licensed a 24/7 equity-index perpetual.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 25, 2026

Some exchange operators say that perpetual futures serve a different purpose than traditional futures and options.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 23, 2026

Whole areas of that relationship were still blank to me, but I knew something about the competitive, prestige seeking aspect of it, and about the perpetual conversational duel that can result from it.

From "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K. Le Guin

Related Words

• ceaseless
• constant
• continued
• continuous
• endless
• enduring
• eternal
• incessant
• infinite
• interminable
• never-ending
• perennial
• permanent
• persistent
• recurring
• unceasing
• unending