indefinitely

From indefinite + -ly.

• IPA^(key): /ɪnˈdɛfɪnɪtli/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: in‧def‧i‧nite‧ly

indefinitely (not comparable)

1. In a manner that is not definite.

   an indefinitely determined fossil

2. For a long time, with no defined end.
   • 1905, Lloyd Osbourne, Baby Bullet: the motor of destiny, page 171:

     It was a dark, horsehairy place with a sort of abandon-hope atmosphere that seemed suitable for people that had no money, and who were going indefinitely into pawn.

   • 2009 October 1, “Answering Iran’s Nuclear Challenge”, in The New York Times‎^[1], archived from the original on 17 June 2022:

     For it would surely improve the domestic standing of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, an unbudgeable hawk, and thereby indefinitely delay peace on that Middle Eastern front.

   • 2020 May 20, David Thrower, Ian Wray, “Revisiting the plan for developing the North's rail network”, in Rail, page 40:

     One argument is that "the virus has changed everything" and that people will work from home and travel much less, easing capacity pressures.
     But there is a counter argument whereby we may all discover that, longer-term, many jobs cannot after all be effectively carried out from home indefinitely.

3. Forever.

• endlessly