ephemera
Americannoun
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a mayfly, esp one of the genus Ephemera
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something transitory or short-lived
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(functioning as plural) a class of collectable items not originally intended to last for more than a short time, such as tickets, posters, postcards, or labels
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a plural of ephemeron
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of ephemera
1670–80; < Greek ephḗmera, neuter plural of ephḗmeros, taken as singular; see ephemeral
Explanation
Ephemera don't stick around for very long. You might enjoy such ephemera as sunsets and rainbows, things appearing only briefly, and so enjoyed all the more. In Latin, ephemera was a word for a fever that didn't last long. Today, ephemera is the plural form of ephemeron, which means "something impermanent or lasting only a short time." French historian Fernand Braudel referred to events as “the ephemera of history,” likening them to fireflies that light the dark for just a moment.
Vocabulary lists containing ephemera
This Week in Words: November 24 - 30, 2018
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The Cuckoo's Calling
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This Week In Culture: December 28, 2019–January 3, 2020
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Contemporaries were convinced that his motivation for publishing Mansfield’s ephemera wasn’t so much reverence for her talent as greed for hard cash.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 30, 2026
This is where the oils live, and the spices, and the half-forgotten jars of jam, olives, vinegars and other bits of kitchen ephemera that have been quietly waiting for their moment.
From Salon • Jan. 11, 2026
“That’s just how his brain worked,” she says of his keen eye that transformed everyday ephemera into a valuable historical archive.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 7, 2025
The upcoming exhibition at the Broad will feature 120 pieces of work, including sculpture, photography, painting, drawing and other ephemera, occupying the entire 10,000-square-foot ground floor.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 4, 2025
Here old earth Warms up in the April sun; And the first ephemera, wings yet wet, From the mould creep one by one.
From The Ontario Readers: Fourth Book by Ontario. Ministry of Education
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
