not going anywhere

adjective

Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see not, go, anywhere.

“His career is not going anywhere.”

Meanings

adjectivenot going anywhere (not comparable)
  1. not comparableUsed other than figuratively or idiomatically: see not, go, anywhere.
  2. not comparableAble to be disregarded and dealt with later.

    You shouldn't get too anxious about your vacation next month. The beach is not going anywhere.

    3 more examples

    There is no need to hurry. If Bahadur was bombed as the television program said, then it is not going anywhere. If the Katyushas were also bombed and the cave was breeched, that is also not going anywhere.

    2007, Harold M. Bergsma, One Way to Pakistan: A Novel, →ISBN, page 303

    Again, college is not going anywhere, and a change in direction can always happen at a later date. Regardless of the ultimate decision to go or not to go, make an action plan with discrete goals, and a timeline for achieving these goals.

    2013, Alex Bitterman, The College Question, →ISBN

    If you or your family or your loved ones are in trouble, your life is not in order. Right? You're plan will still be there waiting for you to finish it. It's not going anywhere.

    2014, Larry Nielsen, Buy Your First Home with Confidence, →ISBN
  3. not comparableDependable; not inclined to leave or bail out unexpectedly.

    You can count on me. I'm not going anywhere.

    5 more examples

    Music has a huge influence on just about everything around us. No matter how people try to disrespect it or reject it, it's not going anywhere. It's here to stay.

    2009, Lawrence Barnett Jr., My Music, →ISBN

    He told me that when he said those wedding vows, that he meant it and he was not going anywhere.

    2012, Demetria Alexander Grissett, In Sickness and In Health, →ISBN

    No, he said plainly. I'll leave this café. But I won't leave you. That's what I mean. I'm not going anywhere.

    2014, Amanda Palmer, The Art of Asking: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Let People Help, →ISBN

    “I’m not going anywhere,” Mr. Biden said. “I know yesterday’s news was surprising and hard for you to hear,” he went on, “but it was the right thing to do. I know it’s hard because you poured your heart and soul into me to help us win this thing.”

    2024 July 22, Peter Baker, quoting Joe Biden, “Biden Vows to Campaign Hard for Harris, Saying, ‘I’m Not Going Anywhere’”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

    A.I. isn’t going anywhere, so the crucial question is one of motivation.

    2025 July 3, David Brooks, “How A.I. Could Make Us Dumber”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

    Synonyms: here to stay

  4. not comparableNot making progress.

    His career is not going anywhere.

    5 more examples

    My research is not going anywhere.

    And I think my question, and I have just one, would be for your, Mr. Toomey, on this question of, well, the science is not going anywhere and it is not going to produce any big gains—let me just read you a sentence from just one of the letters from a physician and scientific groups that I am putting in the record today.

    2003, United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Subcommittee on Science, Technology, and Space, Science and ethics of human cloning, →ISBN, page 26

    That is not how it is, however—the beings in samsara did not come from nirvana to samsara, so they did not come from anywhere, and therefore they are not going anywhere either.

    2003, Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso, The Sun of Wisdom, →ISBN

    The defense would also have argued that the officers overbore his will in violation of the due process clause when they lied about his lawyer having been called and then told him he was not going anywhere unless he told the "truth," which the officer revealed to mean, that he killed Sal.

    2007, Joel William Friedman, Criminal Procedure, →ISBN, page 120

    I'm thinking of a Bion passage about a patient that frustrated him, one we spoke about the other day, starting, stopping, starting, stopping, a sense of not going anywhere, a feeling that nothing's happening.

    2011, Michael Eigen, Faith and Transformation, →ISBN, page 89

    Synonyms: going nowhere

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectiveDependable; not inclined to leave or bail out unexpectedly.

adjectiveNot making progress.

Translations

Hungarian nem megy sehová
  • nem megy sehováable to be disregarded and dealt with later
Cite this entry
APA

not going anywhere. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/not%20going%20anywhere

MLA

“not going anywhere.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/not%20going%20anywhere. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “not going anywhere,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/not%20going%20anywhere.

Source: not going anywhere on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.