different between mostly vs forever

English

Alternative forms

• mostlie (obsolete)
• moastly (obsolete)

Etymology

most +? -ly.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?m??stli/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?mo?stli/

Adverb

mostly (not comparable)

1. Mainly or chiefly; for the most part; usually, generally, on the whole.
2. (obsolete) To the greatest extent; most.
   • 1817, Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey, [1]:

     She was to be their chosen visitor, she was to be for weeks under the same roof with the person whose society she mostly prized [...]!

Synonyms

• (mainly or chiefly): by and large, in the main, more often than not, largely, predominantly, principally; see also Thesaurus:mostly

Translations

English

Alternative forms

• for ever

Etymology

From Middle English for ever, for evere, equivalent to for +? ever.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /f????v?(?)/
• (US) IPA^(key): /f????v?/, [f????v?], [f???v?], [f????v?]
• Rhymes: -?v?(r)

Adverb

forever (not comparable)

1. (duration) For all time, for all eternity; for a lifetime; for an infinite amount of time.

   I shall love you forever.
2. (duration, colloquial, hyperbolic) For a very long time, a seeming eternity.
   • 1988, Anne Tyler, Breathing Lessons, Chapter 1

     She and Serena had been friends forever. Or nearly forever: forty-two years, beginning with Miss Kimmel's first grade.

   We had to wait forever to get inside.

3. (frequency) Constantly or frequently.

   You are forever nagging me.

   • 1912: Edgar Rice Burroughs, Tarzan of the Apes, Chapter 5

     Early in his boyhood he had learned to form ropes by twisting and tying long grasses together, and with these he was forever tripping Tublat or attempting to hang him from some overhanging branch.

Usage notes

• In the United Kingdom and most of the Commonwealth, the spelling for ever may be used instead of forever for the senses "for all time" and "for a long time". In Canada and the United States, generally only forever is used, regardless of sense.

Synonyms

• always
• continually
• eternally
• evermore
• for good
• forevermore
• for ever more
• forever and a day
• incessantly
• until Kingdom come
• permanently

Derived terms

• foreverness
• foreverhood
• forever home

Related terms

• everlasting
• every
• everyday
• never
• nevermore
• whatever
• whenever
• whoever

Translations

Noun

forever (plural forevers)

1. An extremely long time.
   • 2007, Ruth O'Callaghan, "Where acid has etched"

     In the airport, holiday lovers kiss, mouth forevers, the usual argot betrays you. Desire makes love dull.

2. (colloquial) A mythical time in the infinite future that will never come.

Translations

Adjective

forever (not comparable)

1. Permanent, lasting