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fugacious

[fyoo-gey-shuh s]
adjective
  1. fleeting; transitory: a sensational story with but a fugacious claim on the public's attention.
  2. Botany. falling or fading early.
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Origin of fugacious

1625–35; < Latin fugāci- (stem of fugāx apt to flee, fleet, derivative of fugere to flee + -ous
Related formsfu·ga·cious·ly, adverbfu·ga·cious·ness, fu·gac·i·ty [fyoo-gas-i-tee] /fyuˈgæs ɪ ti/, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for fugacity

Historical Examples of fugacity

  • The best of pigments may be ruined by their injudicious use, and obtain a character for fugacity which they in no way deserve.

    Field's Chromatography

    George Field

  • It is so serviceable a pigment for so many purposes, especially in admixture, that its sin of fugacity is overlooked.

  • There is no need for this cant cry of fugacity, which casts such a blight on modern art.

  • Will they not rather spread over the picture the Upas-tree of fugacity, and kill it as they die themselves!

  • As there are different degrees both of permanence and fugacity, so are there different degrees of semi-stability.

British Dictionary definitions for fugacity

fugacity

noun
  1. Also called: escaping tendency thermodynamics a property of a gas, related to its partial pressure, that expresses its tendency to escape or expand, given by d(log e f) = dμ/ RT, where μ is the chemical potential, R the gas constant, and T the thermodynamic temperatureSymbol: f
  2. the state or quality of being fugacious
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fugacious

adjective
  1. passing quickly away; transitory; fleeting
  2. botany lasting for only a short timefugacious petals
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Derived Formsfugaciously, adverbfugaciousness, noun

Word Origin for fugacious

C17: from Latin fugax inclined to flee, swift, from fugere to flee; see fugitive
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for fugacity

fugacious

adj.

"fleeing, likely to flee," 1630s, from Latin fugaci-, stem of fugax "apt to flee, timid," figuratively "transitory, fleeting," from fugere "to flee" (see fugitive) + -ous. Related: Fugaciously; fugaciousness.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
fugacity in Medicine

fugacity

(fyōō-găs′ĭ-tē)
n.
  1. A measure of the tendency of a substance, often a fluid, to move from one phase to another or from one site to another.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.