transitory
Americanadjective
-
not lasting, enduring, permanent, or eternal.
-
lasting only a short time; brief; short-lived; temporary.
- Antonyms:
- permanent
adjective
Related Words
See temporary.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of transitory
First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English transitorie, from Late Latin trānsitōrius “fleeting” ( see transit, -tory 1); replacing Middle English transitoire, from Middle French, from Late Latin, as above
Explanation
If something is fleeting or lasts a short time, it is transitory. Your boss declared the company's restructuring to be transitory, and promised that the company would emerge stronger and better than ever. The adjective transitory describes something that is fleeting, temporary, or brief. Even a transitory storm that passes quickly can get you drenched. Consider it an honor to be on the transitory team that helps the president make a smooth transfer of power. When you met your first love, your parents thought that the relationship was transitory — but fifty years later, you're still married!
Vocabulary lists containing transitory
Tier 2 Words for the SBAC ELA Items
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The Great Gatsby
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Power Prefix: trans-
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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.
"Pakistani leaders are conducting shuttle diplomacy throughout the Middle East. The question is whether it is transitory and merely the product of the US president's idiosyncratic preferences."
From BBC • May 7, 2026
In 2021, as price growth began accelerating in the aftermath of the Covid pandemic, Powell termed the increase transitory, a product of supply-chain bottlenecks and other post-Covid distortions that it assumed would resolve.
From Barron's • Apr. 24, 2026
Instead, we are presented with a set of writing scenes that are provisional, improvised, transitory and, in many senses, unreproducible.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 27, 2026
Yet what Fed officials don’t want is to “make the transitory mistake again,” he said.
From MarketWatch • Mar. 24, 2026
At first, as a student, I wanted freedom only for myself, the transitory freedoms of being able to stay out at night, read what I pleased, and go where I chose.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
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.
