long-standing.

Having existed or continued for a long time.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• a long-standing dispute
• a long-standing tradition

On the page

The flood forced both towns to suspend their long-standing dispute over the bridge.

Usage notes

Primary category: literary / elevated general. Forms: Usually non-gradable; when duration is explicitly compared, longer-standing and longest-standing are natural. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Writing functions: description, character. Commonness: moderately common.