Always
adv, noun, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level
Definitions
- 1 (informal) empty-gloss, informal, no-gloss
"I am her always and she is my always and that’s the whole trouble. For two years I tried to make her pregnant."
- 1 At all times; throughout all time; since the beginning. not-comparable
"God is always the same."
- 2 Constantly during a certain period, or regularly at stated intervals (opposed to sometimes or occasionally). not-comparable
"In this street, the shops always close during lunchtime."
- 3 if necessary, or if there is no better option; in any event. informal, not-comparable
"I thought I could always go back to work."
- 1 at all times; all the time and on every occasion wordnet
- 2 forever; throughout all time wordnet
- 3 at any time or in any event wordnet
- 4 invariably wordnet
- 5 without variation or change, in every case wordnet
Example
More examples"I always liked mysterious characters more."
Etymology
From Middle English alweyes, alwayes, alweys, a variant of Middle English alwey, alway (“always”), from Old English ealneġ, ealne weġ (“always, perpetually”, literally “all the way, all the while, continuously”), from ealne + weġ (accusative case), equivalent to alway + -s. Cognate with Scots always (“always”), Low German allerwegens (“very often”, literally “all ways'”). More at all, way.
Related phrases
More for "always"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.