long-term
3 antonyms for long-term — opposites grouped by meaning.
Adjective — Lasting, continuing or taking effect over a long period of time.
Synonyms by Meaning
1. adjective
Lasting, continuing or taking effect over a long period of time.
“The council has no long-term plan for the site.”
Opposites
short-term
temporary
2. noun
A distant point in the future, considered as the period over which something will finally have effect; used in the phrase "the long term".
“Cutting maintenance saves nothing in the long term.”
Opposites
the short term
Antonyms
How to use long-term
The word patterns that sound natural to a native speaker.
long-term effects
long-term care
long-term relationship
long-term investment
in the long term
Neutral; standard in business, medicine and policy writing.
Frequently asked questions
Is long-term hyphenated?
Hyphenate it when it comes directly before a noun: "a long-term contract". Leave the hyphen out when it follows the verb or forms a noun phrase: "the effects are long term", "in the long term".
How long is long-term?
There is no fixed threshold; it depends entirely on the field. In finance, long-term usually means more than a year; in health care, it can mean months of ongoing treatment; in climate science, it can mean decades.
What is the difference between long-term and long-run?
They overlap heavily in everyday use. "Long run" is more common in the fixed phrase "in the long run", which suggests eventual outcome, while "long-term" is the standard modifier before nouns, as in "long-term care".
