fleeting

adjective fleet·ing \ ˈflē-tiŋ \

|Updated on: 3 Aug 2018

Tip: Synonym Guide

Examples: fleeting in a Sentence

Definition of fleeting

: passing swiftly : transitory

… the often fleeting nature of fame and fortune …
—Tom Sinclair

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fleetingly

play \ˈflē-tiŋ-lē\ adverb

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fleetingness

noun

See fleeting defined for English-language learners

See fleeting defined for kids

Examples of fleeting in a Sentence

I caught a fleeting glimpse of the comet.
had a fleeting desire to jump into the cool lake but kept on hiking

Recent Examples of fleeting from the Web

The Cavaillon and Charentais varieties are ideal, but their season is fleeting.

— aleksandra crapanzano, WSJ, "The 5-Minute Dessert of the Summer," 12 July 2018
SP David Price, Boston Red Sox: How fleeting is consistency at the Major League level?

— lawr michaels, USA TODAY, "Fantasy baseball sizzlers, fizzlers: Matt Harvey making opponents see red," 3 July 2018
Summer just started, but this season of fireflies, berries and barbecues is fleeting.

— anna thomas bates, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Strawberry pie cups give a sweet twist to summer treat," 27 June 2018
The calculation is that eventually Democrats will be in power again, but their majorities will be narrow and their chance at substantial legislation will be fleeting.

— david roberts, Vox, "Big oil and Bush-era lobbyists are teaming up to support a carbon tax," 22 June 2018
Image Zsa Zsa the English bulldog, whose droopy tongue, protruding teeth and penchant for Slim Jims earned her fleeting moments of fame last month as the winner of the World’s Ugliest Dog contest, died on Tuesday.

— sarah mervosh, New York Times, "Zsa Zsa the English Bulldog, ‘World’s Ugliest Dog,’ Dies at 9," 10 July 2018
Both John and Joe — and Wills, who is still on the show — personify a kind of fleeting Bachelorette hero.

— rebecca farley, refinery29.com, "Behold: The Bachelor Unicorns — The Perfect Contestants Who Came & Went," 9 July 2018
For a fleeting moment, Jeremy Thorpe was the pivotal figure in British politics.

— stephen benedict dyson, Washington Post, "Tired of American news? ‘A Very English Scandal’ plunges you into 1970s British social repression and political ambition.," 3 July 2018
The bright moments in these works are keen and fleeting.

— annika neklason, The Atlantic, "What Donald Hall Understood About Death," 26 June 2018

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

First Known Use of fleeting

1563

in the meaning defined above

See Words from the same year

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fleeting Synonyms

Synonym Discussion of fleeting

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.