Phrase guide

all along

adv · prep · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Australia: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

adv

Meaning 1

For the entire time; always.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: idiomatic

Topics: duration, time

Examples

  • He thought he had me fooled, but I knew the truth all along.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

prep

Meaning 2

Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see all, along.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • All along the beach, people were lounging on orange chairs.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

adverb

Meaning 3

all the time or over a period of time

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • She had known all along
  • the hope had been there all along

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: right along

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

36 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Chinese Mandarin: 始終 /始终 (shǐzhōng) — for the entire time
  • Chinese Mandarin: 一直 (yīzhí) — for the entire time
  • Dutch: allang — for the entire time
  • Esperanto: ekde la komenco — for the entire time
  • Finnish: koko ajan — for the entire time
  • Finnish: kaiken aikaa — for the entire time
  • French: dès le départ — for the entire time
  • French: depuis le début — for the entire time
  • Georgian: თავიდანვე (tavidanve) — for the entire time
  • German: die ganze Zeit — for the entire time
  • German: schon immer — for the entire time
  • German: von Anfang an — for the entire time
  • Greek: ανέκαθεν (anékathen) — for the entire time
  • Greek: εξ αρχής (ex archís) — for the entire time
  • Greek: πάντα (pánta) — for the entire time
  • Indonesian: selama ini — for the entire time
  • Italian: fin dall'inizio — for the entire time
  • Italian: da sempre — for the entire time
  • Japanese: ずっと (zutto) — for the entire time
  • Polish: od samego początku — for the entire time
  • Polish: przez cały czas — for the entire time
  • Portuguese: desde o começo — for the entire time
  • Portuguese: o tempo todo — for the entire time
  • Romanian: în tot acest timp — for the entire time
  • Russian: всё вре́мя (vsjo vrémja) — for the entire time
  • Russian: с са́мого нача́ла (s sámovo načála) — for the entire time
  • Slovak: vždy — for the entire time
  • Slovak: odvždy — for the entire time
  • Slovak: odjakživa — for the entire time
  • Slovak: od začiatku — for the entire time
  • Slovak: po celý čas — for the entire time
  • Spanish: todo el tiempo — for the entire time
  • Spanish: desde el inicio — for the entire time
  • Swedish: hela tiden — for the entire time
  • Ukrainian: увесь цей час (uvesʹ cej čas) — for the entire time
  • Ukrainian: весь час (vesʹ čas) — for the entire time