variants or less commonly longform
: notably long in form in comparison to what is common or typical for works or content of a particular category
Making Michael Jackson's Thriller … spawned the long-form music video.Paul Taublieb
His compositions are long-form; by a comparative ratio to most piano players, there's not much soloing. Like good long-form structures, they don't always strike you as such; the written parts ease into solos without giving notice.Ben Ratliff
especially, journalism : covering a subject at much greater length and in much greater depth than a standard news article
Long-form and investigative stories were replaced by short, searchable bursts of information. Adam Weinstein
Mine was a world made new by memoir and biography, investigative journalism and longform essay. E. Ce Miller

Examples of long-form in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Some of their recent long-form features include the inside story of Moderna, the once-thriving biotech startup which had promised to deliver its COVID-19 vaccine before the first lockdown in March 2020. Elsa Keslassy, Variety, 14 Sep. 2023 Arrayed in pithy slogans and long-form prose, her installation is by turns critical and spritely. Angelica Aboulhosn, Smithsonian Magazine, 8 Sep. 2023 Share this story Senior YouTube staffers are reportedly worried that its TikTok competitor, Shorts, may eat away at its long-form content, which has for almost two decades been its primary bread and butter, according to The Financial Times. Wes Davis, The Verge, 3 Sep. 2023 The company is on track to launch long-form original programming to invite new membership experiences within the coming months. Jon Stojan, USA TODAY, 22 Aug. 2023 Camerota, who had been anchoring CNN’s late evenings in recent months, has been moved to work on long-form projects. Brian Steinberg, Variety, 22 Aug. 2023 Alisyn Camerota, who anchored a temporary program in prime time after a long run in the mornings and afternoons, will focus on reporting for CNN’s long-form unit. Oliver Darcy, CNN, 14 Aug. 2023 Rolling Stone interview series Unknown Legends features long-form conversations between senior writer Andy Greene and veteran musicians who have toured and recorded alongside icons for years, if not decades. Andy Greene, Rolling Stone, 10 Aug. 2023 The film, released on Amazon Prime and YouTube, comes amid a wave of other long-form films with corporate pedigree, from Nintendo’s The Super Marios Bros Movie to Mattel’s box office blockbuster Barbie. Rachyl Jones, Fortune, 9 Aug. 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'long-form.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1961, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of long-form was in 1961

Dictionary Entries Near long-form

Cite this Entry

“Long-form.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/long-form. Accessed 27 Sep. 2023.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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