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.
Given the phrase’s innate poeticism, it’s often used by scholars, authors, casanovas and perhaps overly didactic filmmakers to convey the fleeting intensity of life’s most burning joys.
From Salon ● Aug. 26, 2026
Researchers in Japan have captured an extraordinarily fast electronic transformation inside a metal-organic framework, observing a fleeting state and the hidden state that followed within just 30 femtoseconds.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 21, 2026
"The reality is that these years in your kids' lives are so fleeting, and I'm super aware of the time," she said.
From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026
But the hypercompetitive nature of China’s retail environment means success can be fleeting as more brands crowd into the market.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
A weird, completely alien feeling suddenly pierces my heart for a brief, fleeting moment.
From "Saints and Misfits" by S.K. Ali
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.
