lifelong

• life-long, life long

From life +‎ -long.

• IPA^(key): /ˈlaɪf.lɔːŋ/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

lifelong (not comparable)

1. Extending for the entire duration of life.

   They were lifelong friends; they met in elementary school and ended their lives in the same rest home.

   • 2020 January 22, Stuart Jeffries, “Terry Jones obituary”, in The Guardian‎^[1]:

     He studied English at St Edmund Hall, Oxford, and developed a lifelong interest in medieval history as a result of reading Chaucer.

   • 2021 October 20, “Stop & Examine”, in RAIL, number 942, page 71:

     She bought the model as a surprise gift for a friend who is a lifelong HST fan and railwayman, and who will soon be celebrating a milestone birthday.

   • 2025 March 30, Scottie Andrew, “Queer and trans homesteaders are conquering the social media frontier”, in CNN‎^[2]:

     A drag queen may not comfortably fit the stereotypical homesteader mold. In the 19th century, homesteaders were Western pioneers who built new lives from necessity; on TikTok, the most popular homesteaders are often parents with young families or those with a lifelong connection to the practice, which often include so-called “tradwives,” or women who play a stereotypically gendered role in their family.

• decadeslong, yearslong
• for life, lifespan, lifetime
• livelong

• long-life