perpetually

[ per-pech-oo-uh-lee ]

adverb

1. forever or for an indefinitely long time:

   It is best to think of any software licensed in this way as perpetually licensed.

   We seem to be locked perpetually in the past.

2. without intermission or interruption; continually:

   The library received five more laptops to relieve the pressure on their perpetually busy media loan desk.

3. with continued recurrence; regularly or repeatedly: I'm the girl who loses pens constantly, forgets about quizzes in math, and is perpetually late.

   The city’s public schools, particularly in working-class neighborhoods, are perpetually understaffed.

   I'm the girl who loses pens constantly, forgets about quizzes in math, and is perpetually late.

Other Words From

• non·per·pet·u·al·ly adverb
• qua·si-per·pet·u·al·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of perpetually¹

perpetual ( def ) + -ly

Example Sentences

Almost no one, to my ear, charts the perpetually shifting moods and meanings of the interior psychic landscape as sensitively, or as beautifully, as he does.

From Washington Post

Along the bottom of the screen, it perpetually runs an election results tracker.

From Vox

As Miles bops down the street listening to music, he is perpetually on the lookout to deliver a kind word or a helping hand to his fellow New Yorkers.

From Washington Post

When one party is perpetually dominant, the subordinate party has reason to cooperate, as that’s the only realistic shot at wielding power.

From Vox

All the adults around me seemed to be perpetually trying to lose a few pounds by going on the Atkins Diet or re-enrolling in Weight Watchers.

From Eater

Brash, crass, and sporting a perpetually raised eyebrow, Ash Williams remains the ultimate postmodern superhero.

From The Daily Beast

It finally looks like New York, which is perpetually addled by traffic, will be constructing a new expressway.

From The Daily Beast

For the entire duration of the hours I spent inside San Pedro I noticed my abdominal muscles remained perpetually clenched.

From The Daily Beast

Then, she was always posing in slow-motion, as if perpetually taking mental selfies.

From The Daily Beast

And he has remained perpetually ready for whatever else might arise, keeping his truck as sparkling as his persona.

From The Daily Beast

I slept some hours, but was perpetually disturbed with dreams of the place I had left, and the dangers I had escaped.

From Project Gutenberg

Labor, so it was argued, was perpetually being saved by the constant introduction of new uses of machinery.

From Project Gutenberg

At the base of the statue to "Memory" is a gas-fed torch, called the "Torch of Liberty," which burns perpetually.

From Project Gutenberg

She was not, however, allowed to wash her hands of them, for her brother sang their praises perpetually.

From Project Gutenberg

Naturally the sumptuary laws about the wearing of fur were perpetually infringed upon, to the great satisfaction of the furriers.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• constantly
• endlessly