decades long practice

USAGE SUMMARY

The phrase "decades long practice" is not correct in standard written English.
The correct form would be "decades-long practice," using a hyphen to connect the words "decades" and "long" as a compound adjective. Example: "The organization has a decades-long practice of promoting sustainability in its operations."

⚠ May contain grammatical issues

News & Media

Academia

Science

Human-verified examples from authoritative sources

Exact Expressions

1 human-written examples

The Catholic Church continues to struggle with the crisis originating from its widespread and at least decades long practice of allowing child molesters within its midst to escape justice for their crimes.

Huffington Post

Human-verified similar examples from authoritative sources

Similar Expressions

59 human-written examples

According to the decade-long practice, around November each year, Vale, and Australia-based BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto hold one-on-one closed-door talks with the world's main steel-producing region namely Japan, South Korea, and China each of which is represented by a single steelmaker, to negotiate a single contract price.

Forbes

In a shift from a decade-long practice of putting pressure on agencies to cut their fees, 62% of marketers now believe that the most prudent way to manage the economics of their agency relationships is improving the efficiency of agency operations.

Forbes

But the shift is necessary, Bigler said, to tighten control over the county's finances and end a decade-long practice of spending more money than the county is taking in.

Los Angeles Times

One bans a decade-long practice of early voting on Sundays before the election -- a window when as many as 30 percent of black voters have previously cast ballots after attending church in a "souls to the polls" movement.

HuffPost

His decades-long practice exemplified the ideal of serving the public interest when working in private practice.

Yale University

In addition, Pruitt has largely avoided the agency's decades-long practice of publicly posting the administrator's appointment calendars.

The Washington Post

Still, the disaster has made it clear that Hungary must reassess its environmental heritage, its decades-long practice of storing toxic industrial waste around the country.

The New York Times

The decades-long practice of feeding small doses of antibiotics continuously to entire herds or flocks has a high cost for human health.

The New York Times

The most egregious example of this was perhaps the Connecticut state court system's decades-long practice of maintaining secret dockets in cases involving the powerful or famous.

The Washington Post

JPMorgan's concession, part of a broader policy shift in Washington that emerged in fits and starts over the last year, is the most aggressive step in reversing a decades-long practice of allowing banks to "neither admit nor deny" wrongdoing.

The New York Times

Expert writing Tips

Best practice

Use "decades-long" with a hyphen when using it as an adjective before a noun (e.g., "decades-long practice"). This creates a compound adjective modifying the noun.

Common error

Avoid omitting the hyphen in "decades-long" when it modifies a noun. Without the hyphen, the phrase can be misread. Also, be mindful of whether a hyphen is required to avoid ambiguity.

Linguistic Context

The phrase "decades long practice" functions as a noun phrase where "decades long" attempts to act as an adjective modifying "practice". However, according to Ludwig AI, the phrase requires a hyphen to be grammatically correct as "decades-long".

Expression frequency: Rare

Frequent in

News & Media

35%

Academia

33%

Science

32%

Less common in

Formal & Business

0%

Encyclopedias

0%

Reference

0%

Ludwig's WRAP-UP

The phrase "decades long practice" is considered grammatically incorrect without a hyphen, as confirmed by Ludwig AI. The correct form is "decades-long practice", where "decades-long" acts as a compound adjective. Although examples exist, they are infrequent and primarily found in News & Media, Academic, and Scientific contexts. To ensure clarity and grammatical accuracy, use the hyphenated form or consider alternatives like "longstanding practice" or "long-term practice". When describing practices spanning many years, always prioritize precision and correct grammatical structure.

More alternative expressions

Phrases that express similar concepts, ordered by semantic similarity:

longstanding practice

Replaces "decades long" with a single word that means "having existed for a long time".

long-term practice

Uses "long-term" to describe the practice, indicating that it has been ongoing for an extended period.

practice of many decades

Rephrases to emphasize the duration using "many decades" instead of the combined adjective.

decades-old practice

Uses "decades-old" as a compound adjective to describe the practice.

practice spanning decades

Uses a verb to describe the duration of the practice.

decades of experience

Shifts the focus to the accumulated experience over the decades.

established practice for decades

Emphasizes the established nature of the practice over the years.

a tradition of decades

Frames the practice as a tradition that has lasted for decades.

years-long practice

Replaces "decades" with "years", broadening the scope.

historic practice

Implies the practice is old and important.

FAQs

How do I properly use "decades-long" in a sentence?

Use "decades-long" as a compound adjective before a noun, such as in "a decades-long study". The hyphen connects the words to act as a single modifier. For example: "The project involved a "decades-long study" of climate change impacts."

What's the difference between "decades long" and "decades-long"?

"Decades long" without a hyphen is grammatically incorrect when used as an adjective. "Decades-long", with a hyphen, functions as a compound adjective modifying a noun, indicating a duration of many decades.

Are there alternatives to the phrase "decades-long practice"?

Yes, you can use alternatives such as "longstanding practice", "long-term practice", or "practice of many decades" depending on the context.

Is "decades-long" formal or informal language?

"Decades-long" is suitable for neutral to formal contexts. It is frequently found in news articles, academic papers, and business reports, but avoid using it in very informal conversation.