forever

Pluralforevers

1. 1
   for all timeadverb

   For all time or for eternity; for the whole of someone's life or an endless stretch of time.

   She promised to remember him forever.

   Nothing made by human hands lasts forever.

   UsageAlso written as two words, for ever, mainly in British English; American writers use forever.

   Similaralways, eternally, permanently, evermore

   Oppositetemporarily, briefly

   Note

   This is the founding sense, and it shows the word's history. Middle English wrote for ever as two words, and the single spelling appeared only in the late 17th century. The open form never vanished: Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949) still imagines a boot stamping on a human face "for ever."

2. 2
   for agesadverbcolloquial

   For a very long time, used to exaggerate how long something lasts or takes rather than to mean for all time.

   It took forever to find a parking spot downtown.

   The meeting dragged on forever before anyone reached a decision.

   UsageMost often with take or wait: it took forever to load. In formal writing, say a long time.

   Similarinterminably

   Note

   Hyperbole shrinks eternity to a long afternoon: a queue, a commute, a project that takes forever. Anne Tyler's Breathing Lessons (1988) sets the exaggeration against the literal meaning: friends forever, "or nearly forever: forty-two years."

3. 3
   adjectivecolloquial

   Permanent and lasting; meant to continue without ever ending.

   Adopting the dog gave him a forever companion.

   After years of renting, they finally bought their forever home.

   UsageUsually before a noun, most often in set phrases such as forever home and forever war.

   Similarpermanent, lifelong, lasting, everlasting

   Oppositetemporary

   Note

   The adjective stands before its noun and turns "for all time" into a label: a forever friend, or the wife who gets the same label in Bruce Johnston's song "Disney Girls (1957)" (1971). Some pairings have hardened into set phrases. Kathy Kadilak's Tommy Finds His Forever Home (2009) promises a permanent home, and Mark Danner's Spiral: Trapped in the Forever War (2016) uses forever war for a conflict with no exit.

4. 4
   nouncolloquialcountable

   An extremely long time, especially one that feels as though it will never end.

   I hadn't talked to my college roommate in forever, so her call last night was a happy surprise.

   We haven't been back to that restaurant in forever, and I miss its pasta.

   UsageMost common after in with a negative: haven't seen her in forever. Also spend forever on something.

   Similareternity, lifetime, age

   Oppositeinstant, moment

   Note

   The noun is recorded from 1858, well after the adverb, and it behaves like any noun of time. It overlaps with the exaggerating adverb, but the noun is the one that follows a preposition or takes a number.

5. 5
   constantlyadverb

   Constantly or repeatedly; happening so often it seems never to stop.

   My neighbor is forever borrowing tools and never returning them.

   The toddler was forever asking why.

   UsageUsually be forever + -ing verb (she is forever losing her keys), often to show annoyance at a habit.

   Similarconstantly, always, continually, perpetually, incessantly

   Oppositerarely, seldom

   Note

   Here the word counts occurrences rather than years. It sits between the auxiliary and an -ing verb: you are forever nagging, or he was forever tripping Tublat in Burroughs's Tarzan of the Apes (1912). Position alone does not separate it from the "for all time" adverb, which can also come before the main verb.

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