perpetually
Americanadverb
-
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.
-
without intermission or interruption; continually.
The library received five more laptops to relieve the pressure on their perpetually busy media loan desk.
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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 Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of perpetually
Explanation
Use the adverb perpetually if something is never, ever going to stop doing what it's doing, like your perpetually chattering cousin. Perpetually comes from the adjective perpetual, which comes from the Latin for "never stopping." Although there might be some things that might exist perpetually, like the universe (hopefully), we usually use perpetually for things that just feel like they're never going to end. If the coffee shop you go to is perpetually playing the same album, bring them a new one. A good synonym is incessantly.
Vocabulary lists containing perpetually
"Common Sense," Vocabulary from the pamphlet
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The Diary of a Young Girl
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Lyddie
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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.
One month after the war, gas prices rose by 11%, a body blow for Jordan’s perpetually anemic economy.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
“Many of these companies are perpetually misunderstood,” Monroe said.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 15, 2026
On immigration, we learn that Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff for policy, was perpetually unhappy with Kristi Noem, the former secretary of homeland security.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026
Excessive reliance on backward-looking data could leave the Fed perpetually behind the curve.
From Barron's ● Jun. 12, 2026
He moved exactly like a cat, perpetually on the balls of his feet, and with a cat’s impressive, indifferent aloofness, his face closed, in his eyes no fight at all.
From "Go Tell It on the Mountain" by James Baldwin
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.
