Merriam-Webster Logo
SINCE 1828
Menu
dictionary thesaurus

a long time coming

idiom

Definition of a long time coming 

: arriving or happening after a lot of time has passed His promotion was a long time coming.

Learn More about a long time coming

Share a long time coming

Resources for a long time coming

Cite Time Traveler Time Traveler! Explore the year a word first appeared

Dictionary Entries near a long time coming

along the line

along the way

a long time ago

a long time coming

a long way

a long way to go

along with

Statistics for a long time coming

Look-up Popularity

Comments on a long time coming

What made you want to look up a long time coming? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).

Show Comments  Hide Comments 

WORD OF THE DAY

secrete

to deposit or conceal in a hiding place

Get Word of the Day daily email!

Test Your Vocabulary

Name that Food Quiz

  • alt-573b465788319
  • Name these cookies!
Spell It

Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words?

TAKE THE QUIZ
Word Winder's CrossWinder

Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.

TAKE THE QUIZ

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Words at Play

Ask the Editors

Word Games