Ephemeral

/ɛˈfɛ.mə.ɹəl/ · adjective

Meaning

Lasting for a short period of time..

Definitions by Sense

1. Lasting for a short period of time.
2. (biology) Existing for only one day, as with some flowers, insects, and diseases.
3. (geology, of a body of water) Usually dry, but filling with water for brief periods during and after precipitation.
4. Something which lasts for a short period of time.

Example Sentences

1821-1822, Vicesimus Knox, Remarks on the tendency of certain Clauses in a Bill now pending in Parliament to degrade Grammar Schools Esteem, lasting esteem, the esteem of good men, like himself, will be his reward, when the gale of ephemeral popularity shall have gradually subsided.

sentences not of ephemeral, but of eternal, efficacy

It was during an access of this kind that I suddenly left my home, and bending my steps towards the near Alpine valleys, sought in the magnificence, the eternity of such scenes, to forget myself and my ephemeral, because human, sorrows.

The graben constitutes a depositional basin and a topographic low, underlain by Cretaceous shales, in which volcanic debris accumulated in ephemeral lakes and streams in Oligocene and early Miocene time.

Synonyms for ephemeral

Antonyms for ephemeral

Related Words

Word Forms

• more ephemeral
• most ephemeral
• ephemerals

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

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