livelong means total, complete, whole. Lexicurio rates it Rare gem — a strength score of 78 out of 100.
Why “livelong” is a great word
LIVELONG — [Adjective] Enduring for the whole, often wearying duration of a specified period. From Middle English leve-long, lefe long, a fossilized phrase from lief ('dear, beloved') + long, thus originally meaning 'dear long' or 'belovedly long'. Unlike entire, which neutrally marks completeness, or ephemeral, which denotes a fleeting escape, livelong is weighted with the subjective heft of endured time. It is the sun hanging motionless in a cloudless August sky, the unbroken hum of cicadas spanning the afternoon, and the slow creep of shadow across a sun-bleached field—a word that measures duration not by the clock, but by the weight of its presence.
adj
- Total, complete, whole.“I've been working on the railroad, all the livelong day.”
- Lasting; durable.“Thou, in our wonder and astonishment, Thou hast built thyself a live-long monument.”
noun
- Orpine (Hylotelephium telephium syn. Sedum telephium).