soap bubble

American  

noun

1. a bubble of soapsuds.

2. something that lacks substance or permanence.

---

soap bubble British  

noun

1. a bubble formed from soapy water

2. something that is ephemeral but attractive

---

Etymology

Origin of soap bubble

First recorded in 1805–15

Example Sentences

His critiques and conclusions are as edgy as a soap bubble.

From Los Angeles Times

Clouds of soap bubbles and cascading buckets of water follow, along with a coffee scrub and deeply moisturizing mask before a short sauna session to let everything absorb.

From Salon

These proteins form layered arrangements that reflect light in a way similar to soap bubbles or butterfly wings.

From Science Daily

A massive Ruhlmann sideboard, first made in 1920, is inlaid with an ivory marquetry pattern that suggests—to me, least—soap bubbles.

From The Wall Street Journal

Most ingenious of all are the soap bubbles, devised by Mr. Forman, an MIT doctoral student, that drift around the stage as whirling snow.

From The Wall Street Journal