forever

proverb Someone who reaches middle age and continues to act foolishly is unlikely to start acting more maturely. A: "He's way too old to be spending his money so frivolously." B: "I know. A fool at 40 is a fool forever."

proverb Something beautiful will give pleasure long after it ceases to exist. This phrase is taken from John Keats' poem Endymion. Thoughts of blooming flowers sustain me through the cold winter months. Truly, a thing of beauty is a joy forever.

Continuing forever from this point onward. The couple lived happily forever after. I know that the horrific images of the war-torn region will continue to haunt me forever after.

Eternally; always; ceaselessly. Honey, I'll love you forever and ever!

Lost forever; having no chance of ever being recovered. Nearly $50,000 of our savings, lost and gone forever because you couldn't stay away from that damned casino! I once dreamed of moving to Japan to teach English, but since having kids, that dream is lost and gone forever.

informal For a very long time. Good luck getting them to switch to a new filing system—they've been using the old one since forever. What are you talking about? I've liked baking since forever! I just never had the time to do it.

To take a very long time. You took forever to get home. Was there traffic? Why is it taking forever for our food to come out? Did they forget about us?

forever. I will love you forever and ever. This car won't keep running forever and ever. We'll have to get a new one sometime upcoming. We have enough money to last forever and a day.

lost; permanently lost. My poor doggy is lost and gone forever. My money fell out of my pocket and I am sure that it is lost and gone forever.

Prov. Beautiful things give pleasure that lasts even longer than the beautiful things themselves. (This is a line from John Keats's poem "Endymion." Also a thing of beauty and a joy forever, used to describe something beautiful in lofty terms, often ironically.) Jill: I don't understand why someone would pay millions of dollars to have some old painting. Jane: Because a thing of beauty is a joy forever.

True loveliness (is a lasting quality). The complete thought is a line from John Keats’s great poem, “Endymion” (1818), and continues, “Its loveliness increases; it will never pass into nothingness.” The thought is hardly original, but the expression caught on. In the twentieth century it began to be shortened and used simply to describe something lovely, often ironically. Eric Partridge mentioned a play on it made by “flappers,” fashionable young women of the post–World War I era: “A thing of beauty is a boy forever.” Today one is apt to say it of, for example, an elaborately decorated cake.