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ephemeral
[ ih-fem-er-uhl ]
adjective
- lasting a very short time; short-lived; transitory:
The poem celebrates the ephemeral joys of childhood.
Synonyms: brief, momentary, transient, evanescent, fleeting
Antonyms: permanent
- (of flowers or insects) lasting only a few days or less:
Lily of the valley is an ephemeral flower.
- being of temporary value or passing interest:
She had a scrapbook full of ephemeral news clippings about forgotten events.
- Computers.
- being or relating to messages, images, or other data that are written to temporary or virtual storage only, and are therefore liable to change or be lost unless copied to permanent storage immediately or within a very short time:
Snapchat is an ephemeral messaging app.
- being or relating to a temporary storage medium, especially a virtual one:
In case of a hardware failure this data will be lost, as it is only stored locally on an ephemeral drive.
noun
- anything short-lived, such as certain flowers and insects.
ephemeral
/ ɪˈfɛmərəl /
adjective
- lasting for only a short time; transitory; short-lived
ephemeral pleasure
noun
- a short-lived organism, such as the mayfly
- a plant that completes its life cycle in less than one year, usually less than six months
Derived Forms
- eˌphemerˈality, noun
- eˈphemerally, adverb
Other Words From
- e·phem·er·al·ly adverb
- e·phem·er·al·ness noun
- non·e·phem·er·al adjective
- non·e·phem·er·al·ly adverb
- un·e·phem·er·al adjective
- un·e·phem·er·al·ly adverb
Word History and Origins
Origin of ephemeral1
Word History and Origins
Origin of ephemeral1
Example Sentences
The movie is as slim and ephemeral as Paul’s reality.
More than anything, he had an uncanny ability to tap into the instinctual and ephemeral—and an uncanny ability to make the personal resonate in universal ways.
But in “The Tempest,” Shakespeare takes this proposition a step further, directly equating the ephemeral conjurations of the theater with the transient reality of the audience.
We don’t just use these things as ephemeral amusement — art helps us make sense of our lives at their most critical impasses.
Haynes relies on photographs, clips from tangentially relevant ephemeral films and soundless remnants shot by mentor/facilitator Andy Warhol, a strategy that can be distracting and rewarding in turns.
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