constantly

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From constant +‎ -ly. Displaced native Old English singallīċe.

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈkɒnstəntli/
  • (US) IPA(key): /ˈkɑnstənʔli/
    • Audio (US):(file)

Adverb

constantly (comparative more constantly, superlative most constantly)

  1. (archaic) With steadfastness; with resolve; in loyalty, faithfully.
    • 1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: [], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: [] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC:
      , I.iv.1:
      Agrippa and the rest of his weeping friends earnestly besought him [] not to offer violence unto himself, ‘with a settled resolution he desired again they would approve of his good intent, and not seek to dehort him from it’; and so constantly died.
  2. In a constant manner; occurring continuously; persistently.
    • 2025 June 19, Rami Kaminski, ““Otroverts” and why nonconformists often see what others can’t”, in Big Think[1]:
      For most people, this sacrifice is made easily and instinctively. Not so for otroverts, who are neither willing nor able to passively adopt the social scripts that others do. To the otrovert, who is constantly engaged with the choices and consequences of their individual life, social norms follow a circular logic: []
  3. (frequency) Recurring regularly.
    I find that I am constantly reminding you to feed your pets.
    • 2013 February 6, Hideo Otake, “Revising the Interpretation of the Japanese Economy”, in Michio Muramatsu, Frieder Naschold, editors, State and Administration in Japan and Germany: A Comparative Perspective on Continuity and Change[2], page 319:
      Japanese retail stores have strove to, and have succeeded in, fulfilling these severe demands, and in doing so, have constantly had to innovate both technologically and institutionally in order to keep up with the competition.
  4. In an unchangeable or invariable manner; in every case.

Synonyms

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References