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Glite Dictionary
to drag on forever

to drag on forever

1 5.2
To continue much longer than expected and make people bored
  • phrasal verb
  • Informal
translation icon : prolongarse indefinidamente
  • By then, the tenants had petitioned the Board of Health, but we were still cold. Moreover, I was married, and my young husband had already been in the Pacific for two years of this war that looked as if it would drag on forever.
  • it seems to drag on forever

Examples

  • The major holidays seem to drag on forever.

    Blog text (15)

  • The class discussion about the same topic continued to drag on forever, making everyone restless.

  • "That can drag on forever.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • That's gonna drag on forever.

    The Big Year (2011)

  • This hell drags on into forever, with no respite.

    Blog text (30)

  • This hell drags on into forever, with no respite.

    Blog text (30)

  • Linked with this, the Commission must be allowed a suitable time frame for the investigations to take place, but it can't drag on forever.

    Blog text (1)

  • The taxpayers did pay their legal fees so that Fannie and Freddie could drag on their legal fight forever without any cost to themselves.

    Blog text (27)

  • I tried to stay calm—I knew lawsuits could drag on forever, that I probably had plenty of time, and that the investigation might not result in a lawsuit—but I worried anyway.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • When you're bored in a meeting, time seems to drag on forever.

Synonyms

to drag
vsto drag on forever
133 3.4

To continue slowly in a way that makes time feel long

is longer than expected and feels especially tedious
to take forever
vsto drag on forever
  • Informal
65 3.4

Lasts much longer than expected

is similar but stresses much greater duration
to drag on
vsto drag on forever
42 3.9

To continue longer than needed and become boring

is more prolonged and feels much more tedious
to drag out
vsto drag on forever
  • Informal
23 5.1

Make something last longer than needed, causing boredom or frustration

is about long continuation rather than intentional extension

Antonyms

to end
∞ 1.0

To stop something or make it finish

How Long

to drag on forever
  • Informal
1 5.2
to drag on
42 3.9
to last
∞ 1.0
to end
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

drag on forever infinitive
dragged on forever past
dragged on forever past participle
dragging on forever present participle
drags on forever third person singular

Morphology

drag + on + forever

The sense ‘to continue for a much longer time than expected’ is directly derivable from the constituents: 'drag' (to prolong), 'on' (indicating continuation), and 'forever' (endlessly), so the combined meaning is predictable. This composition follows common English patterns for expressing extended duration and would be readily understood by a B1 learner who knows the individual words.

Etymology

The verb drag on forever comes from the image of someone pulling a heavy load so it drags along the ground and goes on and on, moving very slowly. That's why drag on forever means 'to continue much longer than expected' or 'to feel long and boring'.