prolonged
Americanadjective
-
lasting a long time; lengthy.
Regular or prolonged absence from school without a valid reason may result in the absentee being barred from examinations.
-
lengthened or extended in time or space.
Technological innovations in the ICU have led to artificially prolonged life, with associated costs.
Abnormally shortened or prolonged telomeres are a hallmark of cancer.
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of prolonged
Explanation
Something prolonged is long and drawn-out — it's taking longer than it should. A prolonged wait is usually annoying. If a fan throws a drink on the court during a basketball game and it takes an hour to clean it up, and then another hour to re-wax the floor, and then another hour for the players to warm up again...that's a prolonged delay. Anything prolonged has been stretched out further than it should be. America's war with Vietnam was prolonged much longer than anyone expected. If something is tedious, time-consuming, and feels like it's taking forever, it's prolonged.
Vocabulary lists containing prolonged
The Call of the Wild
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Boy: Tales of Childhood
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Britain's Finest Hour Speech - Winston Churchill (1940)
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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.
Jared Malsin explains why the war risks becoming a prolonged test of endurance rather than a decisive showdown.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 25, 2026
Thames Water has implemented a temporary usage ban for 10.1 million customers due to a high demand for water, as a result of recent heatwaves and prolonged dry weather in the spring and summer.
From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2026
The pipeline and oil fields themselves are undamaged, but a prolonged cut to production would jeopardize the company’s substantial cash flow from the region.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 25, 2026
Kaneva and her team with threats now for to two major waterways in the Gulf, markets are clearly viewing a prolonged stalemate as unlikely.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 24, 2026
Even Warbeak was beginning to feel the effects of prolonged low nighttime fluttering, through the woodlands, around trees, over bushes; it was not the same as a clear, clean flight through the upper atmosphere.
From "Redwall" by Brian Jacques
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.