perpetually

adverb

per·​pet·​u·​al·​ly pər-ˈpe-chə-wə-lē How to pronounce perpetually (audio)
-chə-lē;
-ˈpech-wə-lē
: in a perpetual or continuous manner
A guardroom was established to each side of the prisoner's casemate, in which a lamp burned perpetually.Robert Penn Warren
Beta-blockers can make you tired, interfere with circulation (making your hands and feet perpetually cold) …Consumer Reports
… the tusks of prehistoric mammoths, which had been preserved in the perpetually frozen soil.William C. Ketchum, Jr.

Examples of perpetually in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Know someone who feels perpetually drawn to America’s most beautiful spaces? Joni Sweet, Forbes, 30 Nov. 2023 Once the Duke of Wellington shows up at Waterloo, the fact that he’s played with such supercilious glee by the perpetually sneering Rupert Everett comes as a welcome relief. Ann Hornaday, Washington Post, 21 Nov. 2023 On most days, the map will remain mostly unchanged, but keeping the lines from moving requires its own violent dance, one perpetually in danger of being thrown off balance. Marc Santora Tyler Hicks, New York Times, 20 Nov. 2023 Steve Aoki has been a household name for the last two decades, but that hasn’t stopped him from perpetually experimenting — bounding from one sound to the next — and challenging how his music is consumed, understood, and memorialized. Charisma Madarang, Rolling Stone, 17 Nov. 2023 In 2023, Dontae was twenty-three, the father of three children, a tall, serene adult, perpetually lean despite his appetite for his grandmother’s mac and cheese. Nicholas Dawidoff, The New Yorker, 18 Nov. 2023 Best Classic Peacoat Mackintosh Dalton Wool Blend Peacoat Mackintosh may be most well-known for its raincoats—an innately British boast given the perpetually drizzly conditions there. Isaiah Freeman-Schub, Robb Report, 16 Nov. 2023 Early reactions point toward the perpetually fan cast Idris Elba, or even Jason Momoa, whose breakout role as Khal Drogo could be a great starting point, with a slight uptick in verbosity. Christopher Cruz, Rolling Stone, 11 Nov. 2023 Across languages and throughout time, the term slang has evolved to mean a subversive lexicon, purposefully unintelligible to whoever’s in charge, perpetually shape-shifting against the mainstream. Caleb Madison, The Atlantic, 28 Oct. 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'perpetually.' 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

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of perpetually was in the 14th century

Dictionary Entries Near perpetually

Cite this Entry

“Perpetually.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/perpetually. Accessed 5 Dec. 2023.

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