temporarily
Americanadverb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of temporarily
Explanation
Temporarily describes something that happens for a limited amount of time. If you agree to watch your friend's dog temporarily, you'll be surprised if it turns out that your friend will be in France for at least two years. Temporarily is the adverbial form of "temporary," which comes from the Latin word tempus, meaning time. Something done temporarily is supposed to be concluded in a finite amount of time. If your car is temporarily out of commission, you expect that you will be able to fix it and get it back on the road. If you drop the word temporarily from that sentence, your car may be a goner.
Vocabulary lists containing temporarily
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temp
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The Mayor of Casterbridge
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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.
Some of those trips are being made by foreign-flagged ships because the U.S. temporarily waived the Jones Act, he said.
From MarketWatch • May 19, 2026
The latest "temporary 30-day general license" will "provide the most vulnerable nations with the ability to temporarily access Russian oil currently stranded at sea," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a social media post.
From Barron's • May 18, 2026
It also damaged gas production and energy infrastructure, temporarily cutting power to some residents in almost half of Ukraine, the energy ministry said.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 18, 2026
The zoo added that it was considering a full ban on filming around the monkey enclosure and was putting requests to film from YouTubers temporarily on hold.
From BBC • May 18, 2026
An officer told her she’d been temporarily put in charge of the regiment.
From "A Thousand Sisters" by Elizabeth Wein
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.
