ephemeral

play

adjective ephem·er·al \i-ˈfem-rəl, -ˈfēm-; -ˈfe-mə-, -ˈfē-\

Definition of ephemeral

1 : lasting one day only an ephemeral fever
2 : lasting a very short time ephemeral pleasures

ephemerally

play \i-ˈfem-rə-lē, -ˈfēm-; -ˈfe-mə-, -ˈfē-\ adverb

See ephemeral defined for English-language learners

See ephemeral defined for kids

ephemeral was our Word of the Day on 02/21/2013. Hear the podcast!

Examples of ephemeral in a Sentence

… several rather inflated pages of material about an ephemeral love affair Fitzgerald allegedly had with an English woman named Bijou … —Joyce Carol Oates, Times Literary Supplement, 5 Jan. 1996
As a consequence North Africa was easily reconquered by the Byzantine emperor in the 530s, and the Vandals' influence on North African development was ephemeral and negligible. —Norman F. Cantor, The Civilization of the Middle Ages, 1993
This accounts for the peculiar sense most observers have that the ephemeral, sensationalist, polymorphous, magpie popular culture of the United States is at bottom remarkably conservative … —Louis Menand, Harper's, March 1993
the autumnal blaze of colors is always to be treasured, all the more so because it is so ephemeral

Recent Examples of ephemeral from the Web

Sea ice, for instance – the relatively ephemeral floating icebergs in both the Antarctic and Arctic that form when ocean water freezes – is much more significant in the Arctic, which lacks a continent at the pole, than in the Antarctic.

— amanda paulson, The Christian Science Monitor, "Antarctica’s big break: What role for climate change?," 12 July 2017
The ephemeral photo app, which finds its strongest advocates among teenage girls, took a tumble Tuesday after Morgan Stanley, the lead underwriter for Snap’s March IPO, downgraded the stock.

— alan murray, Fortune, "CEO Daily: Wednesday, 12th July," 12 July 2017
The ardent dogmatism of 1917 seems almost unimaginable today; politics are flickering and ephemeral, menacing but ridiculous.

— sophie pinkham, New Republic, "How a Russian Street Art Museum Defies Kremlin Censors," 3 July 2017
But industry veterans have been around long enough to know that profits are ephemeral, especially in an environment as uncertain as Lebanon’s.

— philip issa, The Seattle Times, "Lebanon sees tourism rebound as turmoil swallows region," 2 July 2017
Snap, creator of ephemeral messaging app Snapchat, is giving its video-recording Spectacles dispenser a semi-permanent home near Chicago this summer.

— amina elahi, chicagotribune.com, "Snap drops Spectacles vending machine at Woodfield Mall for summer," 29 June 2017
This spot in the Utah desert was once an ephemeral pond that came and went as the Jurassic seasons shifted from wet to dry.

— brian switek, Scientific American Blog Network, "The Making of an Allosaurus Graveyard," 21 June 2017
And though Instagram changed how ephemeral the videos are by allowing us to save them back in March, there was still no easy way to recirculate the video to your followers.

— marissa miller, Teen Vogue, "Instagram Announces New Way to Share Live Video," 20 June 2017
Note: While this list considers the traditional core dining metrics (food, service, value and atmosphere) of the best restaurants, great weight is placed on an ephemeral quality that the entertainment industry treasures: the buzz factor.

— gary baum, The Hollywood Reporter, "Where Hollywood Eats: L.A.'s 20 Hottest Restaurants Right Now (June 2017)," 2 June 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'ephemeral.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

The Mayfly Helps To Illustrate ephemeral

The mayfly (order Ephemeroptera) typically hatches, matures, mates, and dies within the span of a few short hours (though the longest-lived species may survive a record two days); poets sometimes use this insect to symbolize life's ephemeral nature. When "ephemeral" (from the Greek word ephēmeros, meaning "lasting a day") first appeared in print in English in the late 16th century, it was a scientific term applied to short-term fevers, and later, to organisms (such as insects and flowers) with very short life spans. Soon after that, it acquired an extended sense referring to anything fleeting and short-lived (as in "ephemeral pleasures").

Origin and Etymology of ephemeral

Greek ephēmeros lasting a day, daily, from epi- + hēmera day

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1576

See Words from the same year

Synonym Discussion of ephemeral

transient, transitory, ephemeral, momentary, fugitive, fleeting, evanescent mean lasting or staying only a short time. transient applies to what is actually short in its duration or stay. a hotel catering primarily to transient guests transitory applies to what is by its nature or essence bound to change, pass, or come to an end. fame in the movies is transitory ephemeral implies striking brevity of life or duration. many slang words are ephemeral momentary suggests coming and going quickly and therefore being merely a brief interruption of a more enduring state. my feelings of guilt were only momentary fugitive and fleeting imply passing so quickly as to make apprehending difficult. let a fugitive smile flit across his face fleeting moments of joy evanescent suggests a quick vanishing and an airy or fragile quality. the story has an evanescent touch of whimsy that is lost in translation