Words / B2

i-TURNL/ɪˈtɜːnl/

Eternal means lasting for ever, or seeming to: eternal life; an eternal problem. Everlasting is close; endless is more about tedium. Temporary is an opposite. Invigilators’ “pens down” treated as eternal. Do not use eternal for a three-year contract.

Meaning

Lasting for ever, or seeming to last for ever.

Examples

• “Candidates treated the invigilator’s “pens down” as an eternal rule.”
• “The statue was billed as an eternal memorial, which is the literal “for ever” sense.”

Good to know

eternal + noun; the eternal + problem. Close: everlasting / endless. Opposite: temporary. Religion, rhetoric, and irony. Hyperbole in complaints.

Near in meaning

everlasting

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