impermanence
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of impermanence
First recorded in 1790–1800; equivalent to im- 2 ( def. ) + permanence ( def. )
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.
In my favor: though not a Buddhist, I am intellectually, if not spiritually, drawn to Buddhism’s doctrines of suffering, impermanence and nonattachment.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 23, 2026
It was that sense of impermanence, she believes, that made the films special.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 23, 2025
Dahlia Lithwick: The book is deliberately rooted in this paradox of permanence and impermanence.
From Slate ● Sep. 8, 2025
By all measures, this is a movie that needs to do well, even for a studio that prides itself on the impermanence of its properties.
From Salon ● Jul. 25, 2025
In the Bronx, the idea of life’s impermanence underlined everything for kids my age—it drove some of us to a paralyzing apathy, stopped us from even thinking too far into the future.
From "The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates" by Wes Moore
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.
