Synonyms for fleeting
- adjective
Most common
All synonyms
Adjective
1. Ephemeral — passing quickly; of short duration
ephemeral, momentary, transient, transitory, short-lived, brief, temporary, short, fugitive, passing, perishable, impermanent, flying, flitting, temporal, volatile, cursory, fugacious, deciduous, transitive, momentaneous, mortal
Other
Definitions
- adj. 1
Passing quickly; of short duration.
Related words
- Word family
- fleetingly fleetingness
Choose the right word
That which is fleeting is viewed as in the act of passing swiftly by, and that which is fugitive (L.
J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)
Example sentences
- transient Everything is transient and therefore sorrowful.
- momentary He gave a momentary glance to the passers by.
- ephemeral Love's pleasure is ephemeral; regret eternal.
- runaway Runaway trains are stopped by derailing shoes.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| fleeting | rising | |
| transient | steady | |
| momentary | rising | |
| ephemeral | rising | |
| transitory | falling | |
| runaway | steady |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 5 letters
- short1, brief1
- 6 letters
- flying2, mortal2
- 7 letters
- passing2, runaway3, cursory3
- 8 letters
- volatile3, temporal3, fugitive3, flitting2
- 9 letters
- temporary4, transient2, momentary4, ephemeral4, deciduous4, fugacious
- 10 letters
- perishable4, transitive, transitory4
- 11 letters
- impermanent
- 12 letters
- momentaneous
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (flying2 = 2 syllables).