not long for this world

Adjective

 * 1)  Unlikely to endure for much more time.
 * 2) * 1787, John Quincy Adams, Charles Francis Adams, editor, Life in a New England Town, 1787, 1788: Diary of John Quincy Adams (1903), page 109:
 * Townsend went there with us, but found himself so unwell that he went home very early. His cough has return'd, with several disagreeable symptoms. I fear exceedingly that he is not long for this world.

Usage notes

 * Only used as a predicate.
 * Variant forms substitute for "this world": "here", "this earth", "this life", "these parts", "this world".
 * Other variants soften "long", as: "not much longer for this world".