all along

adverb

For the entire time; always.

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

Similar
right along
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Meanings

adverb
  1. idiomaticdurationFor the entire time; always.

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

    2 more examples

    I think I must have known all along—without knowing that I knew, if that doesn't sound too silly.

    1934, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], The Bravo of London

    Well, you knew all along That your dad was getting wise to you, now

    1964, “Fun, Fun, Fun”, performed by The Beach Boys
preposition
  1. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see all, along.

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

Synonyms & antonyms

adverball the time or over a period of time

Similar
right along
Also see
from the start

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Translations

Chinese Mandarin 始終 /始终, 一直
  • 始終 /始终 (shǐzhōng)for the entire time
  • 一直 (yīzhí)for the entire time
Dutch allang
  • allangfor the entire time
Esperanto ekde la komenco
  • ekde la komencofor the entire time
Finnish koko ajan, kaiken aikaa
  • koko ajanfor the entire time
  • kaiken aikaafor the entire time
French dès le départ, depuis le début
  • dès le départfor the entire time
  • depuis le débutfor the entire time
German die ganze Zeit, schon immer
  • die ganze Zeitfor the entire time
  • schon immerfor the entire time
  • von Anfang anfor the entire time
Greek ανέκαθεν, εξ αρχής
  • ανέκαθεν (anékathen)for the entire time
  • εξ αρχής (ex archís)for the entire time
  • πάντα (pánta)for the entire time
Indonesian selama ini
  • selama inifor the entire time
Italian fin dall'inizio, da sempre
  • fin dall'iniziofor the entire time
  • da semprefor the entire time
Japanese ずっと
  • ずっと (zutto)for the entire time
Polish od samego początku, przez cały czas
  • od samego początkufor the entire time
  • przez cały czasfor the entire time
Portuguese desde o começo, o tempo todo
  • desde o começofor the entire time
  • o tempo todofor the entire time
Romanian în tot acest timp
  • în tot acest timpfor the entire time
Russian всё вре́мя, с са́мого нача́ла
  • всё вре́мя (vsjo vrémja)for the entire time
  • с са́мого нача́ла (s sámovo načála)for the entire time
Slovak vždy, odvždy
  • vždyfor the entire time
  • odvždyfor the entire time
  • odjakživafor the entire time
  • od začiatkufor the entire time
  • po celý časfor the entire time
Spanish todo el tiempo, desde el inicio
  • todo el tiempofor the entire time
  • desde el iniciofor the entire time
Swedish hela tiden
  • hela tidenfor the entire time
Ukrainian увесь цей час, весь час
  • увесь цей час (uvesʹ cej čas)for the entire time
  • весь час (vesʹ čas)for the entire time
Cite this entry
APA

all along. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/all%20along

MLA

“all along.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/all%20along. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “all along,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/all%20along.

Source: all along on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.