English · Idiom Attested

stand the test of time

In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.

Both English Tiếng Việt

Meaning · English

Persist against odds.

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

Vẫn tồn tại mặc dù gặp khó khăn

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Where it’s used: Used Widespread English

Examples

FOR a film that has stood the test of time, catch Luis Bunuel's Oscar - winning DISCREET CHARM OF THE BOURGEOISIE (Cert 15; Selected).

A bottom drain is something which has stood the test of time too.

British National Corpus sentence via the MAGPIE corpus (CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30)

Sources & notes

Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Figurative class: Metaphor (PIE-English corpus, CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-31).

Topics: Time

Common questions

What does “stand the test of time” mean?

Persist against odds.

Is “stand the test of time” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.

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