in ages
28
2.4
- idiom
- Informal
:
hace mucho tiempo
- I am alive for the first time in ages!
Oh, I haven't had this in ages.
- Oh, I haven't had this in ages.
- So it was like I'd controlled something for the first time in ages.
- I haven't seen him in ages, and we were friends for a very long time.
- So Kate Middleton has not been seen in ages?
- And we answer a listener question which we haven't done in ages.
- This first one here is from Essence, and I haven't tried an essence product in ages.
- And the police started making phone calls and like, we'll go go visit your sister you haven't seen in ages, Victoria, who is in a wheelchair.
- Sweet and I went there for the first time with Chase Jarvis leaving to Chase and I had not seen Chase in ages.
- So you got a lot here and as I mentioned earlier, I'm just going to read the first paragraph from the back of the book, 'cause I haven't seen this in ages.
Examples
-
I haven't been to the movies in ages.
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He hasn't played his guitar in ages, but he still remembers how to play his favorite songs.
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Because I haven't had one in ages and I really feel like it.
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Well, I feel like I've not seen you in ages, but it's only been a week.
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I haven't seen him in ages, and we were friends for a very long time.
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I haven't been home in ages, at least ten years.
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I haven't seen you in ages.
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We haven't had a family meeting in ages.
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You haven't been here in ages!
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It's the first quiet New Year's I've had in ages.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
For all time without end
16
7.8
A time that lasts forever
For a very long time with no clear end
For a very long time that never ends
Antonyms
How Long
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase combines the preposition 'in' with 'ages' (plural of 'age' meaning a long period), so the sense 'for a very long time' is directly inferable from the constituents and the common 'in + time period' pattern. This compositional logic is found across many languages and is not highly metaphorical, so a B1 learner who knows the words should understand it.
Etymology
In ages may come from using ages to mean very long periods of time, like saying someone was away 'for a very long time'. Imagine a calendar with many pages turning slowly; that's why in ages means 'for a very long time'.