Meaning & use
long live
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Meaning
phrasefixed phrase
Said to express a strong wish that a person, group or idea will continue to survive and flourish for a long time.
Grammar: Followed directly by the noun it honours: long live the queen.
Patterns
- long live someone
- long live something
The crowd raised their glasses and shouted, "Long live the bride and groom!"
Long live the little corner bookshop that has survived so many changes on our street.
Protesters chanted "long live freedom" as they marched through the square.
Common combinations
- long live the king
- When the old king died, the heralds cried, "The king is dead, long live the king!"
- long live the queen
- Long live the queen, whose reign has brought peace to the country.
- long live democracy
- The banner read "long live democracy" in bold red letters.
- long live rock and roll
- The singer ended the show with a shout of "long live rock and roll!"
- shout long live
- Fans began to shout long live their favorite team after the win.
Synonyms and how they differ
- vive
- Vive is the French equivalent and appears only in borrowed slogans, whereas long live is the ordinary English wish.
- hurrah for
- Hurrah for is a cheer of approval for something that has just happened, while long live looks forward and wishes survival.
- may it last
- May it last is a quieter, more personal wish, whereas long live is a public, ceremonial cry.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: long live or live long?
long live vs live long
Live long is used as a verb phrase about a person's own life, as in 'live long and prosper'; long live is a fixed cheer about someone else's survival.
Practice
Which phrase would a crowd most naturally shout to wish the new president many years in power?
Choose one answer.
Long live the president is the fixed form of this wish. The other options reorder the words in ways that English does not allow.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “long live”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.