核心畫面
Picture yourself sitting in a waiting room, and the wait keeps going past the point where you expected it to end. The clock is the same clock; what makes you reach for this word is that the thing has outrun your patience. 'Lengthy' can be pictured as 'long' with a small sigh attached to it: it measures the same distance that 'long' measures, but it also quietly reports how it felt to sit through. That sigh is why you say 'a lengthy delay' but not 'a lengthy holiday' — a holiday going on and on is good news, so the word does not fit.
可以想成你坐在候診室裡，等待一路拖過你原本以為會結束的那個點。時鐘還是同一個時鐘，讓你想用這個字的，是它已經跑贏了你…更多收起
可以想成你坐在候診室裡，等待一路拖過你原本以為會結束的那個點。時鐘還是同一個時鐘，讓你想用這個字的，是它已經跑贏了你的耐心。lengthy 的畫面可以想成「long 加上一聲小小的嘆氣」：它量的距離跟 long 一樣，但同時也悄悄報告了坐在裡面是什麼感覺。這聲嘆氣，就是為什麼會說 a lengthy delay（漫長的延誤），卻不太會說 a lengthy holiday——假期一直不結束是好消息，這個字就套不上去了。原始詞典資料2 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，原文照列，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
lengthyadj
- 1
Having length; long and overextended, especially in time rather than dimension.
- a lengthy text
- a lengthy discussion
- 2
Speaking or writing at length; long-winded.
- If, in addition to being a lengthy preacher, he had also been a Rev. Mr. Mumbles or a Rev. Dr. Drone, the penance thus endured by his people would have been intolerably severe.
資料來源：英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary（CC BY-SA 4.0）。 原文照列，未經改寫。