long-felt

English

Etymology

From long +‎ felt.

Adjective

long-felt (comparative longer-felt, superlative longest-felt)

  1. (idiomatic) Of a problem, need, or desire, that has existed for a significant period of time without an adequate solution.
    • 1883, Ohio State Eclectic Medical Association, Worthington College (Ohio). Medical Department (contributor), The Eclectic Medical Journal‎[1], page 196:
      They always satisfy a long-felt want - on the part of the professors; and they seem to be "fillin'" to certain "aching voids" that gather in to fill the classes.
    • 1964, United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, Aerosol Research Company V. Scovill Manufacturing Company, (A. Schrader's Son Division), page 7:
      Here Plaintiff says that the St. Germain patent supplied a long-felt need when Plaintiff itself, an aerosol valve manufacturer, has never been able to give the public one single St. Germain valve structure.
    • 1988, Marvin Camras, Magnetic Recording Handbook, page 605:
      The longest-felt need in computers has been for an economical on-line memory where vast amounts of information are almost instantly accessible.
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