ephemeron
Americannoun
-
anything short-lived or ephemeral.
-
ephemera, items designed to be useful or important for only a short time, especially pamphlets, notices, tickets, etc.
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of ephemeron
1570–80; < Greek ephḗmeron short-lived insect, noun use of neuter of ephḗmeros; see ephemeral
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.
See Examples For:
Moore has developed a subspecialty in this sort of high-camp Gulf ephemeron: for New Orleans he designed the Piazza d'Italia and the snazziest part of the 1984 World's Fair.
From Time Magazine Archive
It would be useless to enter into the detail of the plot of an ephemeron, that depends more upon its quips and cranks than dramatic construction for its success.
From Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 1, July 17, 1841 by Various
Like the ephemeron fly, they are born suddenly, and may be expected to die as soon.
From Thoughts on Man, His Nature, Productions and Discoveries Interspersed with Some Particulars Respecting the Author by Godwin, William
Science sees man as the ephemeron of an hour, an iridescent bubble on a seething, whirling torrent, an accident in a world of incalculable and clashing forces.
From Whitman A Study by Burroughs, John
Its three hundred and sixty-five years were now as but the day of the ephemeron.
From The Sand-Hills of Jutland by Bushby, Mrs. (Anna S.)
At mid-century, the word “design” implied fashionable ephemera, whereas Noguchi’s own work—furniture as well as sculptures—pursued something more enduring: the aesthetic orchestration of forms, pressures, space and human communication.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 1, 2026
The facility will include state-of-the-art, climate-controlled storage for the museum’s more than 250,000-object collection of paintings, sculptures, photographs, tapestries and Cold War-era ephemera from the Soviet Union, East Bloc, China and other countries.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 10, 2026
If anything proves the market value of seemingly worthless ephemera, Walker added, it’s fans clawing for printed set lists at the end of a concert.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 2, 2026
How well can you recall the past 250 years of books, music, movies and other cultural ephemera that makes up our country?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 28, 2026
Then he dwindled and his lines blurred into ephemera and he slid out through the door, which was open perhaps an inch.
From The Giants From Outer Space by Reynard, Geoff St.
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.
