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

Maybe she's also a stand-in for a nation perpetually haunted by the Troubles, the violent escalation between Northern Ireland's Catholics and Protestant loyalists through which “Say Nothing” travels.

From Salon

Donald Trump’s extraordinary efforts to prove that he didn’t lose in 2020, perpetually hampered by the fact that he did, slowly faded into the background.

From Salon

The passage of time, grief for those we have lost, longing for a better world that seems perpetually out of reach — all of these things can be frightening.

From Los Angeles Times

There’s the one in Gallup, N.M., perpetually packed with buses from the nearby Navajo and Zuni nations.

From Los Angeles Times

This makes us many things: Proud, exhausted, delighted, occasionally irritated, perpetually anxious, often overwhelmed by love and strangely aware of the varying quality of chicken strips in grocery store freezer sections.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• constantly
• endlessly