prolonged
Americanadjective
-
lasting a long time; lengthy.
Regular or prolonged absence from school without a valid reason may result in the absentee being barred from examinations.
-
lengthened or extended in time or space.
Technological innovations in the ICU have led to artificially prolonged life, with associated costs.
Abnormally shortened or prolonged telomeres are a hallmark of cancer.
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of prolonged
Explanation
Something prolonged is long and drawn-out — it's taking longer than it should. A prolonged wait is usually annoying. If a fan throws a drink on the court during a basketball game and it takes an hour to clean it up, and then another hour to re-wax the floor, and then another hour for the players to warm up again...that's a prolonged delay. Anything prolonged has been stretched out further than it should be. America's war with Vietnam was prolonged much longer than anyone expected. If something is tedious, time-consuming, and feels like it's taking forever, it's prolonged.
Vocabulary lists containing prolonged
The Call of the Wild
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Boy: Tales of Childhood
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Britain's Finest Hour Speech - Winston Churchill (1940)
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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.
After a prolonged stay in hospital, Ritchie had expected to go home but was moved in February to a nursing home, a one-hour drive from her home and family.
From BBC • May 19, 2026
Former school board member Yolie Flores, who represented areas north, northeast and southeast of downtown, is concerned about Carvalho’s prolonged absence and the high-level departures.
From Los Angeles Times • May 19, 2026
“But the prospect of a prolonged period of elevated oil prices is weighing more broadly this morning.”
From Barron's • May 18, 2026
Oil futures posted back-to-back gains as the prolonged closure of the Strait of Hormuz started to raise concerns about falling global inventories.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 17, 2026
His enigmatic silence, however, unquestionably had mischievous consequences, for it prolonged the scheming in the House and, somewhat ironically, convinced Jefferson that Burr could never be trusted.
From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis
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.
