interminably
English
Etymology
Etymology tree
From interminable + -ly.
Adverb
interminably (not comparable)
- In an interminable manner; (seemingly) endlessly.
- The meeting dragged on interminably as topics upon topics were divided.
- 1919, William Roscoe Thayer, chapter 11, in Theodore Roosevelt: An Intimate Biography, Boston, Mass.; New York, N.Y.: Houghton Mifflin Company, →OCLC:
- But as the case had dragged on interminably, and he believed, and the world believed, and the Canadians themselves knew, that they intended to filibuster and postpone as long as possible, he took the common-sense way to a settlement.
- 1953, Alfred Bester, The Demolished Man[1]:
- He lay quietly in the hydropathic bed while his heart shuddered and his eyes focused at random on objects in the room, simulating a calm he could not feel. The walls of green jade, the nightlight in the porcelain mandarin whose head nodded interminably if you touched him, the multi-clock that radiated the time of three planets and six satellites, the bed itself, a crystal pool flowing with carbonated glycerine at ninety-nine point nine Fahrenheit.
- 1966 January 27, Charles Poore, “Books of The Times: General de Gaulle Is Wired for History”, in The New York Times[2], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC:
- At the heart of the matter lies a simple truth. It is that Joans of Arc, to fulfill the most shining symmetries of their destinies, should not grow interminably old. The fiery leader of the Fighting French in 1940 looks a trifle better, in perspective, than the recent candidate for re-election who lunged down from his pedestal to wrestle for votes.
- 2002 November 5, Donald Hiscock, “Furthermore: How to cope with long meetings”, in The Guardian[3], archived from the original on 19 October 2026:
- There are many strategies for coping with interminably long meetings. There is, of course, the very popular game of Bullshit Bingo whereby a list of management buzzwords is drawn up and circulated amongst players.