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Synonyms

lengthy

American  
[lengk-thee, leng-, len-] / ˈlɛŋk θi, ˈlɛŋ-, ˈlɛn- /

adjective

lengthier, lengthiest

  1. having or being of great length; very long.

    a lengthy journey.

  2. tediously verbose; very long; too long.

    a lengthy speech.
lengthy British  
/ ˈlɛŋθɪ, ˈlɛŋkθɪ /

adjective

  1. of relatively great or tiresome extent or duration

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

  • lengthily adverb
  • lengthiness noun

Etymology

Origin of lengthy

An Americanism dating back to 1680–90; length + -y 1

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.

Having realized its error, the ECB cut its key rate in November, initiating a lengthy sequence that eventually took borrowing costs below zero.

From The Wall Street Journal

After the Bulls announced the move, Ivey returned to Instagram Live and recorded another lengthy video.

From Los Angeles Times

District Judge Diane Gujarati in Brooklyn said that a lengthy prison term was necessary to prevent Daedone from committing further crimes.

From The Wall Street Journal

In turn, airport security lines have led to lengthy delays.

From BBC

Too many lines of code to analyze, armies of AI assistants to wrangle, and lengthy prompts to draft are among the laments by hard-core AI adopters.

From Barron's

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.