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Synonyms

in the long run

Idioms  

  1. Over a lengthy period of time, in the end. For example, He realized that in the long run, their argument wouldn't seem so awful. This expression, which originated as at the long run in the early 1600s, presumably alludes to a runner who continues on his course to the end. Economist John Maynard Keynes used it in a much-quoted quip about economic planning: “In the long run we are all dead.” The antonym, in the short run, meaning “over a short period of time,” dates only from the 1800s. The novelist George Eliot used both in a letter (October 18, 1879): “Mrs. Healy's marriage is surely what you expected in the long or short run.”

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.

What most everyone seemed to agree on is that AI would be beneficial in the long run.

From MarketWatch

“Of course, leaving new employees off the job ladder is not sustainable in the long run. In the long run, AI adoption will require rethinking how entry-level employees gain experience on the job,” Davis wrote.

From MarketWatch

When smaller, cheaper stocks earn higher returns than larger, faster-growing ones, as has tended to happen in the long run, the equal-weight index will outperform the capitalization-weighted index.

From The Wall Street Journal

It can’t hope to keep up in the long run with investments that compound, though.

From The Wall Street Journal

If you’re wondering what the remote job market will look like in the long run, there’s a good chance what you see today is what you’ll get for the foreseeable future.

From The Wall Street Journal

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.