lasting
Syllables: last·ing/ˈlɑːstɪŋ/
More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations
Northern England/ˈlastɪŋ/
lasting adjective: persisting for an extended period of time. Also the present participle and gerund of last.
Adjective
lasting (comparative more lasting, superlative most lasting)
- Persisting for an extended period of time.
- After World War I it was hoped that a lasting peace had been achieved. It hadn’t.
- I was taken to the theatre for the first time when I was six years old, and the experience made a lasting impression on me.
- Persisting forever.
- I am the cygnet to this pale faint swan,
Who chants a doleful hymn to his own death,
And from the organ-pipe of frailty sings
His soul and body to their lasting rest.c. 1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Iohn”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]... - Things that are first must give place, but things that are last, are lasting.1678, John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress from This World, to That which is to Come: […], London: […] Nath[aniel] Ponder […], →OCLC, page 24
- Synonyms:
- eternal, everlasting, ageful, agelong, amaranthine, celestial, endless, enduring, eterne, everduring
- I am the cygnet to this pale faint swan,
Noun
lasting (countable and uncountable, plural lastings)
- In full lasting cloth: a durable, plain woven fabric formerly used for making clothes and for the uppers of women's shoes.
- Synonyms:
- everlasting
- The act or process of shaping footwear on a last.
- The action or state of persisting; the time during which something or someone persists.
- But all things that haue beginning, must come to an end, and whatsoeuer groweth, must likewise deminish, being subiect to corruption and change, according to the time appointed vnto it by the course of Nature, as is seene by experience in plants, and in wights, which haue their ages and lastings...1598, I. D. (possibly John Dee) (translator), Aristotles Politiques, or Discourses of Gouernment, London: Adam Islip, Chapter 12, p. 334
- […] it may be some kinde of Prophecy, of the continuance, and lasting of these Letters, that having been scattered, more then Sibyls leaves, I cannot say into parts, but corners of the World, they have recollected and united themselves […]1651, John Donne, Letters to Severall Persons of Honour, London: Richard Marriot, dedicatory epistle
- Synonyms:
- continuance, duration, endurance
Also used as
lasting is also the present participle and gerund of last.
Examples of lasting in a sentence
- Look ye, Marriage is a lasting thing—if it were for six Months only, I might venture upon thee—but for all days of my Life—mercy upon me […]1706, Susanna Centlivre, Love at a Venture, London: John Chantry, act V, page 63:
- But concerning the several degrees of lasting, wherewith Ideas are imprinted on the Memory, we may observe […]1689 (indicated as 1690), [John Locke], chapter 10, in An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding. […], London: […] Eliz[abeth] Holt, for...
Synonyms of lasting
30 more synonymsFewer synonyms
- evergreen
- forever
- heavenly
- imperishable
- never-ending
- perennial
- permanent
- perpetual
- perpetuate
- persistent
- sempiternal
- timeless
- unending
- undeadly
- undying
- continuance
- duration
- endurance
- chronic
- diuturnal
- standing
- durative
- endurable
- extending
- hard-wearing
- long-drawn-out
- long-lasting
- long-lived
- perdurable
- prolonged
Antonyms
- consumable
- ephemeral
- fleeting
- nondurable
- perishable
- short-lived
- transient
- transitory
- undurable
- unlasting
1 more antonymsFewer antonyms
Forms of lasting
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | more lasting |
| superlative | most lasting |
| Noun | |
| plural | lastings |
Words formed from lasting
Phrases with lasting
Words that rhyme with lasting
Questions about lasting
- What does lasting mean?
- Lasting means persisting for an extended period of time.
- How do you use lasting in a sentence?
- Look ye, Marriage is a lasting thing—if it were for six Months only, I might venture upon thee—but for all days of my Life—mercy upon me […]
- What part of speech is lasting?
- Lasting can be an adjective or a noun.
- How do you pronounce lasting?
- Lasting is pronounced /ˈlɑːstɪŋ/ (UK).
Words near lasting in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: lasting (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this entry: “lasting.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/lasting. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.