time will tell
In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.
Meaning · English
Eventually will be.
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
Only time will tell if this is a serious effort at improving both public sector accountability and overall performance.
Only time will tell if the ban will be lifted on Friday … ironic then that the clock should stop half way through today's announcement, and refuse to start again.
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: Personification (PIE-English corpus, CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-31).
Common questions
What does “time will tell” mean?
Eventually will be.
Is “time will tell” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.