impermanent
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of impermanent
Explanation
Impermanent describes something that's temporary, like a bad poison ivy rash, a one-day sale at your favorite store, or a message written in the sky by an airplane. The adjective impermanent is useful for talking about things that are fleeting or transitory; bubbles, the summer, a baby's cute lisp, and a wonderful dream are all impermanent. Many religions, especially Buddhism, emphasize the impermanent nature of everything in life, and the inevitability of change. The word at the root of impermanent is permanent, from the Latin permanere, "endure, continue, or stay to the end."
Vocabulary lists containing impermanent
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.
He’s rough-hewn, simple, hardworking, not immune to the impermanent nature of the world but brought up short when that world goes awry; Mr. Edgerton has to give emotional depth to a laconic character.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 20, 2025
Second, once achieved, manhood status is tenuous and impermanent; that is, it can be lost or taken away.
From Salon ● Jun. 27, 2025
As a result, it allows us to view death as impermanent.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 31, 2025
His answer is what he calls “Precarious Sculpture,” proliferating jumbles of lumpen objects made from common, impermanent stuff, as if refusing to play by the elitist rules of enduring art.
From New York Times ● Feb. 1, 2024
The building is as grey as the pavement below and the sky above, appearing as impermanent as the clouds, as though it could vanish into the air without notice.
From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern
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.
