ephemeral

[ih-fem-er-uhl]

adjective

1. lasting a very short time; short-lived; transitory.

   The poem celebrates the ephemeral joys of childhood.

   Synonyms: brief, momentary, transient, evanescent, fleeting
   Antonyms: permanent

2. (of flowers or insects) lasting only a few days or less.

   Lily of the valley is an ephemeral flower.

3. being of temporary value or passing interest.

   She had a scrapbook full of ephemeral news clippings about forgotten events.

4. Computers.

   1. being or relating to messages, images, or other data that are written to temporary or virtual storage only, and are therefore liable to change or be lost unless copied to permanent storage immediately or within a very short time.

      Snapchat is an ephemeral messaging app.

   2. being or relating to a temporary storage medium, especially a virtual one.

      In case of a hardware failure this data will be lost, as it is only stored locally on an ephemeral drive.

noun

1. anything short-lived, such as certain flowers and insects.

ephemeral

/ ɪˈfɛmərəl /

adjective

1. lasting for only a short time; transitory; short-lived

   ephemeral pleasure

noun

1. a short-lived organism, such as the mayfly

2. a plant that completes its life cycle in less than one year, usually less than six months

Other Word Forms

• ephemerally adverb
• ephemeralness noun
• nonephemeral adjective
• nonephemerally adverb
• unephemeral adjective
• unephemerally adverb
• ephemerality noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of ephemeral¹

First recorded in 1570–80; from Greek ephḗmer(os) “short-lived, lasting a day” (from ep- ep- + hēmér(a) “day” + -os, adjective suffix) + -al ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of ephemeral¹

C16: from Greek ephēmeros lasting only a day, from hēmera day

Example Sentences

Popular songs were considered ephemeral—heard and enjoyed, then quickly forgotten.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

It helps that the cakes make for great photographs — and surprising status symbols, ephemeral as they are.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

It’s purposeful for Fellowes that the series and the films have addressed the ephemeral nature of life, something that’s also present in “The Grand Finale.”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

These claims about their core principles are superficial and ephemeral.

Read more on Salon

Food is a uniquely aspirational object: ephemeral and accessible.

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Related Words

• fleeting 
• short-lived 
• transitory