Indefinitely Meaning: What It Really Means (and Why It Is Not “Forever”)

Few everyday words cause as much quiet anxiety as this one. A flight is “delayed indefinitely.” A player is “out indefinitely.” A workplace is “closed indefinitely.” The indefinitely meaning sits at the center of all those announcements — and most people misread it in the same way, hearing “forever” when the word actually says something quite different: no end date has been set.

This guide explains what indefinitely means, where it comes from, how it differs from definitely, temporarily, and forever, and how to use it correctly in your own writing.

Short answer: Indefinitely means “for an unlimited or unspecified period of time” — something continues with no fixed or known end point. It does not necessarily mean forever: a situation described as indefinite has no scheduled end, but it can still end when a decision is made or conditions change.

What Does Indefinitely Mean? The Full Definition

Indefinitely is an adverb. It describes an action or state that continues without a definite limit — in practice, for a period of time whose length is not stated, not known, or not yet decided.

Standard dictionary definitions converge on this wording: “for an unlimited or unspecified period of time.” Collins describes it this way: if a situation will continue indefinitely, it will continue forever or until someone decides to change it or end it — and its stock example is the classic news phrase, “The visit has now been postponed indefinitely.”

That “or until” clause is the heart of the word. Break the meaning into its two working parts:

1. No end date exists right now. Nobody has announced when the delay, closure, suspension, or arrangement will finish — and possibly nobody knows.
2. An end is still possible. Indefinite is not the same as permanent or infinite. The thing may end next week or in ten years; the word simply refuses to promise either way.

Think of it as the difference between a road that ends at a wall and a road that runs into fog. Forever is the wall claim — no end, ever. Indefinitely is the fog: the road continues, you cannot see where it stops, and it may stop sooner than you fear.

In a secondary sense, indefinitely can mean “in a vague or unspecified manner” — but the time sense is by far the most common, and it is the one behind the headlines.

Origin and Word History

Indefinitely is built from Latin parts that are still visible in the modern word:

• in- — “not”
• definitus — “defined, limited” (from definire, to set bounds)
• -ly — the English adverb ending

So indefinitus in Latin already meant “not defined, without set limits,” which is almost exactly how the English word behaves today. Merriam-Webster dates the adjective indefinite — defined as “not definite,” including “having no exact limits,” as in “an indefinite period of time” — to 1530, from that Latin source. The adverb indefinitely is simply the adverb form of indefinite, and reference sources note the family of words has been used since the 1520s–1530s for things that are imprecise or unbounded.

It helps to see the word as the negative of definitely. Both come from the same root about boundaries and certainty: definite means bounded and clear, so in-definite means unbounded and unclear — and indefinitely describes something happening in that unbounded way. That shared root is also exactly why the two words get confused, as the next sections show.

Indefinitely vs. Definitely (and Other Look-Alikes)

Because they differ by only two letters and share a root, indefinitely and definitely are one of the most common mix-ups in English writing — in spelling, and occasionally in meaning. They are close to opposites:

	Indefinitely	Definitely
Core meaning	For an unspecified period; no end date set	Without doubt; certainly; clearly
Answers the question	“How long?” — nobody knows	“Are you sure?” — yes, completely
Feeling it creates	Open-endedness, uncertainty	Confidence, finality
Example	“The trial was postponed indefinitely.”	“The trial will definitely resume in March.”
Opposite ideas	Temporarily (with a known short span), permanently	Possibly, maybe, uncertainly

Two other neighbors cause confusion:

• Indefinitely vs. temporarily. Temporarily means for a limited time — it implies the thing will end, usually soon, even if the exact date is unstated. Indefinitely makes no such promise; the end is genuinely undecided. “Closed temporarily” sounds reassuring. “Closed indefinitely” is the honest version of “we do not know when, or if, we reopen.”
• Indefinitely vs. infinitely / forever. Infinitely and forever claim there is no end at all. Indefinitely claims only that no end has been specified. A sports report saying a player is “out indefinitely” means the team has not set a return date — players return from indefinite absences all the time. If the absence were permanent, the report would say so.

A spelling tip that prevents the most common error: definitely contains the word finite — d-e-finite-ly. If you can see “finite” (bounded, certain) inside it, you have the right word for certainty. Indefinitely is the one with in- at the front negating it.

How to Use Indefinitely: Examples

The word appears most naturally with verbs about continuing, pausing, delaying, or extending. In news, law, work, and sport, it is the standard way to announce an open-ended state:

• “The concert has been postponed indefinitely due to flooding at the venue.”
• “After the injury, the goalkeeper was ruled out indefinitely.”
• “The committee voted to table the proposal indefinitely.”
• “She has taken leave from work indefinitely to care for her father.”
• “The software will remain in beta indefinitely while the team fixes stability issues.”
• “You cannot keep borrowing money indefinitely — eventually the bills come due.”
• “The border crossing remained closed indefinitely following the storm.”

Notice what these sentences share: each describes a state that is expected to continue, with the speaker deliberately not committing to an end date. That restraint is the word’s whole job. If you actually know the duration, a specific phrase — “for three weeks,” “until June” — is always better.

It is also worth knowing the parliamentary quirk: in formal meeting procedure (Robert’s Rules of Order), a motion to “postpone indefinitely” is a recognized tactic that effectively kills a proposal for the rest of the session without a direct vote against it. Outside legislatures and formal meetings, though, “postponed indefinitely” keeps its ordinary meaning: delayed, with no new date set.

Synonyms and Similar Terms

Close alternatives, with their slight differences in flavor:

• Until further notice — the closest everyday substitute; formal and announcement-friendly.
• For an unspecified period / for the foreseeable future — plain-language paraphrases. (“Foreseeable future” leans slightly toward “for quite a while.”)
• Endlessly / without end — stronger; these drift toward forever and lose the “until decided otherwise” nuance.
• Indefinitely postponed companions: on hold, on ice, in limbo (informal, journalistic).
• Open-endedly — used for agreements and contracts with no fixed term.

Useful antonyms include temporarily, briefly, for a set period, and permanently (the opposite extreme). Precise word choice is a theme across our vocabulary guides — compare vice, another short word whose meaning shifts sharply with context, and insufferable, where the connotation does most of the work.

Common Confusions: What Indefinitely Is NOT

• It does not mean “definitely.” This is the big one, usually a spelling slip: “I will indefinitely be there” is wrong if you mean you will certainly be there. The added in- reverses the sense entirely.
• It does not strictly mean “forever.” Forever is a claim about eternity. Indefinitely is a claim about the schedule: there isn’t one. Most indefinite situations do end — a postponed visit gets rescheduled, an injured player returns, a closed shop reopens or formally closes.
• It does not mean “infinitely.” Infinitely describes something without any limit in extent or degree (“infinitely patient,” or a mathematically endless quantity). Indefinitely describes an unspecified duration, mainly of time.
• It is not vague filler. Used properly, indefinitely is the precise word for an honest situation: the end is real but unknowable today. It becomes sloppy only when a speaker actually knows the timeline and hides behind the word anyway.

For another case where smooth surface wording hides a sharper exact meaning, see our explainer on glib — and for a word whose casual use is looser than its literal sense, gnarly is a fun contrast.

Pronunciation and Forms

• Pronunciation: in-DEF-uh-nit-lee (ɪnˈdɛfɪnɪtli) — five syllables, stress on the second: in-DEF-in-it-lee.
• Adjective form: indefinite — “an indefinite delay,” “an indefinite number of people.”
• Noun form: indefiniteness (rare).
• Grammar note: a and an are called the indefinite articles in grammar — a related use of the same word family, meaning they point to a non-specific person or thing (“a doctor,” any doctor) rather than a definite one (“the doctor”). If you met indefinite in a grammar class first, that is why.

FAQ

Does indefinitely mean forever?

No — not exactly. Forever means without any end at all. Indefinitely means without a specified end: the situation continues until someone decides to end it or circumstances change. An indefinitely postponed event may well happen later; a forever-canceled one will not.

What is the difference between indefinitely and definitely?

They are near-opposites that share a Latin root. Indefinitely means for an unspecified period of time, with no end date set. Definitely means with certainty, without doubt. “Postponed indefinitely” = we do not know when it will happen. “Definitely happening” = we are sure it will happen.

What does “postponed indefinitely” mean?

It means the event, meeting, or decision has been delayed and no new date has been set. It does not mean canceled — the matter is alive but unscheduled, and it can return when a date is chosen or conditions change. (In formal parliamentary procedure, the same phrase is a motion that effectively kills a proposal for the session, which is a special technical use.)

How do you pronounce indefinitely?

Say in-DEF-uh-nit-lee, with the stress on “DEF.” It has five syllables: in-def-in-ite-ly.

What is a synonym for indefinitely?

The closest substitutes are “until further notice,” “for an unspecified period,” and “for the foreseeable future.” “Endlessly” and “without end” are similar but stronger, since they suggest the thing may never end at all.

Is indefinitely a negative word?

Not inherently. It is neutral and factual, but it often appears in unwelcome news — delays, closures, suspensions — so it has picked up an uneasy tone. It can also be positive or freeing: “She plans to travel indefinitely” describes an open-ended adventure, not a problem.