longueur.

A long or dull passage or interval that weakens interest in a narrative, performance, or discussion.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• narrative longueurs
• a film’s longueurs

On the page

The editor trimmed the longueurs without disturbing the atmosphere.

The speech had several longueurs before its memorable conclusion.

Usage notes

Primary category: literary. Forms: Singular longueur; plural longueurs. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings.