prolonged

[pruh-lawngd, -longd]

adjective

1. lasting a long time; lengthy.

   Regular or prolonged absence from school without a valid reason may result in the absentee being barred from examinations.

2. 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

1. the simple past tense and past participle of prolong.

Other Word Forms

• unprolonged adjective
• well-prolonged adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of prolonged¹

prolong ( def. ) + -ed ² ( def. )

Example Sentences

An escalating trade war, a prolonged government shutdown and a stagnant job market have economists and analysts fearing that consumer spending, a central driver of the U.S. economy, might slow down.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

While many platforms such as the online games Roblox and Fortnite were back up and running within a few hours of the outage, some services experienced prolonged downtime.

Read more on BBC

England great Emily Scarratt says she could have prolonged her playing career, but that winning a second Rugby World Cup felt like the perfect conclusion to 17 years in the Test game.

Read more on BBC

After a prolonged slump in the market for analog and industrial chips, analysts had been hopeful for an industry rebound.

Read more on MarketWatch

Drawing on insights from short investor Jim Chanos, the piece emphasizes that prolonged market cycles create fertile ground for financial fraud as participants stop asking critical questions about suspicious arrangements.

Read more on Los Angeles Times