fleeting
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of fleeting
Explanation
Fleeting is an adjective that describes something that happens really fast, or something that doesn’t last as long as you’d like. Driving in a car on the highway, you see a unicorn in the woods, but you only get a fleeting glimpse of it because you’re driving too fast. Bummer. Fleeting comes from the Old English word flēotan, which means “float, swim.” Like a ghost ship floating by on a foggy night, fleeting things disappear as fast as they appear. Fleeting love may last more than a moment, but it won’t stay for very long, and that’s why it’s called fleeting.
Vocabulary lists containing fleeting
Essential Academic Vocabulary for High School Students, List 1
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The SAT: Words to Capture Tone, List 4
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The New SAT: Words to Capture Tone
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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.
Fleeting spells of warmth and sunshine have alternated with cloudier interludes and drenching downpours.
From BBC • May 7, 2024
You have two films screening at the upcoming Rendezvous with French Cinema program, "Diary of a Fleeting Affair" and "The Green Perfume."
From Salon • Feb. 17, 2023
Fleeting, crumpled tissue-paper blooms in a variety of colors — deep purple is a favorite — are produced on annual plants with showy glaucous foliage throughout summer.
From Seattle Times • Nov. 12, 2022
Fleeting as a week is, it’s not all that different from a typical stay on a psych ward, to which Afiya sees itself as a better alternative.
From New York Times • May 17, 2022
Fleeting whiffs of exhaust and smoke mixed with eucalyptus and oleander.
From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu
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.
