ephemeral
/ɛˈfɛ.mə.ɹəl/
ephemeral adjective: lasting for a short period of time.
Adjective
ephemeral (comparative more ephemeral, superlative most ephemeral)
- Lasting for a short period of time.
- Esteem, lasting esteem, the esteem of good men, like himself, will be his reward, when the gale of ephemeral popularity shall have gradually subsided.1821-1822, Vicesimus Knox, Remarks on the tendency of certain Clauses in a Bill now pending in Parliament to degrade Grammar Schools
- sentences not of ephemeral, but of eternal, efficacy1853, James Stephen, Lecture on the right use of Books
- Synonyms:
- temporary, transitory, fleeting, evanescent, momentary, short-lived, short, volatile
- Antonyms:
- permanent, eternal, everlasting, timeless
- Existing for only one day, as with some flowers, insects, and diseases.
- Usually dry, but filling with water for brief periods during and after precipitation.
- The graben constitutes a depositional basin and a topographic low, underlain by Cretaceous shales, in which volcanic debris accumulated in ephemeral lakes and streams in Oligocene and early Miocene time.1986, W.H. Raymond, "Clinoptilolite Deposit in the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, South Dakota, U.S.A.", in Yūichi Murakami et al. (editors), New Developments in Zeolite Science and Technology...
Noun
ephemeral (plural ephemerals)
ephemeral meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali
ephemeral in Hindi
- lasting for a short period of time
- क्षणभंगुर kṣaṇbhaṅgur
ephemeral in Tamil
- சிறுவாழ்வுள்ள, இடை வெளிக்காலம், குறுங்காலம், மூன்று நாள், நிலையற்ற, மாறுகின்ற
ephemeral in Urdu
- فانی, روزمرہ, وقتی
ephemeral in Bengali
- ephemeral; transient; short-lived; fleeting; lasting only for a moment
- ক্ষণভঙ্গুর khônôbhôṅgur
More languagesFewer languages
- ephemeral in Malayalam
- നശ്വരമായ, അല്പായുസ്സുള്ള, ക്ഷണികമായ
- ephemeral in Kannada
- ಕ್ಷಣಿಕ, ಅಲ್ಪಕಾಲಿಕ, ನಶ್ವರ, ಕ್ಷಣ ಭಂಗುರ
- ephemeral in Indonesian
- fana
Examples of ephemeral in a sentence
- “Dance is not an ephemeral art form,” said Sandra Aberkalns, the senior staff notator at the bureau.
- Such skeuomorphs can be used to reconstruct ephemeral artifacts that cannot be recovered archaeologically.
- Ah, twitterpation: that state of ephemeral bliss we all have such an awkward relationship with.
Synonyms of ephemeral
14 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Antonyms
Forms of ephemeral
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | more ephemeral |
| superlative | most ephemeral |
| Noun | |
| plural | ephemerals |
Origin of ephemeral
From New Latin ephemerus, from Ancient Greek ἐφήμερος (ephḗmeros), the more common form of ἐφημέριος (ephēmérios, “of, for, or during the day, living or lasting but for a day, short-lived, temporary”), from ἐπί (epí, “on”) + ἡμέρα (hēméra, “day”).
Words formed from ephemeral
Phrases with ephemeral
Questions about ephemeral
- What does ephemeral mean?
- Ephemeral means lasting for a short period of time.
- What is ephemeral in Hindi?
- Ephemeral in Hindi is क्षणभंगुर (kṣaṇbhaṅgur). See Ephemeral meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is ephemeral?
- Ephemeral can be an adjective or a noun.
- How do you pronounce ephemeral?
- Ephemeral is pronounced /ɛˈfɛ.mə.ɹəl/.
Words near ephemeral in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: ephemeral (page history and authors); ephemeral (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ephemeral (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ক্ষণভঙ্গুর (Bengali) (page history and authors); ephemeral (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ephemeral (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-ephemeral.ogg.
Cite this entry: “ephemeral.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/ephemeral. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.