Meaning of forever in English

forever

adverb

(UK also for ever)

/fɔːˈrev.ɚ/ uk

/fəˈre.vər/

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for all time:

I like the house but I don't imagine I'll live there forever.

Thesaurus: synonyms, antonyms, and examples

every time

alwaysHe always leaves the lights on.
constantlyHe's constantly losing his keys.
continuallyShe is continually late to class.
foreverI am forever misplacing my backpack!
time after timeTime after time he comes back and pretends like nothing has happened.

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Thesaurus: synonyms, antonyms, and examples

for a very long time

alwaysThe power plant is always running.
foreverI will love you forever.
permanentlyHis reputation was permanently ruined by the scandal.
eternallyEvildoers shall be eternally condemned.
uninterruptedlyStocks have risen uninterruptedly for the last three months.

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for an extremely long time or too much time:

take forever We'd better walk a bit quicker - it's going to take forever if we go at this pace.

very often:

She's forever telling him she's going to leave him but she never actually does.

More examplesFewer examples

Each transaction at the foreign exchange counter seems to take forever.
I know she's gone forever, but I just can't put her out of my mind.
That look of pure grief would be imprinted on her mind forever.
The awful sound of the crash will be stamped on her memory forever.
The city has a timeless quality as if it had existed forever.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Continuous & permanent

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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

Continually & repeatedly

Grammar

Always: meaning

Always can mean ‘on every occasion’, ‘forever’ or ‘very frequently’. In these meanings we use it with simple tense forms: …

Always with continuous verb forms

We can use always with continuous verb forms to refer to regular events or states, especially ones which are problematic or which we do not like or want: …

Always: position

We most commonly use always in mid position, between the subject and main verb, after the modal verb or first auxiliary verb, or after main verb be: …

Always with can and could

We often use always with can and could to talk about possible solutions to problems: …

As always

We use as always to talk about one event which is seen as typical: …

Always, for good or for ever?

When we talk about things which will be permanent, we normally use for good, or, more formally, for ever (sometimes written as forever). We do not normally say for always: …

Idiom

forever and a day

forever

adjective [ before noun ]

/fɔːˈrev.ɚ/ uk

/fəˈre.vər/

existing or happening for all time in the future:

forever home Today, more than 500,000 U. S. children wait in foster care for a forever home.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Continuous & permanent

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(Definition of forever from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

forever | Intermediate English

forever

adverb [ not gradable ]

/fərˈev·ər, fɔr-/

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for all time, without end:

Nobody lives forever.

Forever can also mean always or frequently:

She was forever late for appointments.

He was forever saying that he’d pay me back, but he never did.

(Definition of forever from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of forever

forever

That was the last time anyone saw him before his life forever changed.

From USA TODAY

I think that movie will go forever because it's 100% original.

From Los Angeles Times

You have the power to forever break the hold those old habits and patterns have on you.

From Huffington Post

I thought my love radar was forever broken.

From Huffington Post

Divorced is more forever than marriage; you can not get un-divorced.

From Huffington Post

It's one of those days you'll remember forever.

From NJ.com

It's like being a child again, where the vacation seems like it'll last forever.

From CNN

So if you're out there working on a startup in a space owned by a giant, just remember that nothing lasts forever.

From TechCrunch

Everyone can relate to the frustration of waiting on a site that takes forever to load.

From TechCrunch

You need to make clear what you're doing within a couple of minutes or people are going to forget about it forever.

From The Verge

The truth is out there, but it may be buried forever.

From Slate Magazine

This ruling has the potential to forever transform the very nature and structure of the recorded music business.

From Huffington Post

I wanted to stay looking like that forever.

From Huffington Post

It just confirmed in my heart that my baby girl was meant to be mine, forever.

From Huffington Post

You pray for forever, but social workers have a different job.

From Huffington Post

These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.

What is the pronunciation of forever?