1,400 new words in our dictionary! — Parasocial, glow-up, promposal & more
1,400 new words in our dictionary! — More

fugacious

adjective

fyü-ˈgā-shəs How to pronounce fugacious (audio)
Definition of fugaciousnext
as in flash
lasting only for a short time savor the fugacious pleasures of life as intensely as the more enduring ones

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for fugacious
  1. flash
  2. brief
  3. temporary
  4. transient
  5. passing
  6. evanescent
  7. ephemeral
  8. transitory
Adjective
  • On Monday, the flash-flood threat is lower, but locally heavy downpours are possible for parts of the Mid-Atlantic later in the day.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 20 Sep. 2026
  • Cronan, however, dismissed other claims, including those tied to Burgess’ flash-drive allegations.
    — Madeleine Marr, Miami Herald, 17 Sep. 2026
Definition of flash
Adjective
  • The rally coincided with Bitcoin’s brief move above $87,000, a level not seen since January, as the broader crypto market advanced.
    — Camila Grigera Naón, Fortune, 23 Sep. 2026
  • When Sora existed for that brief minute, TKO sent OpenAI a letter telling it to stop using UFC and WWE footage.
    — Lane Brown, Vulture, 23 Sep. 2026
Definition of brief
Adjective
  • However, researchers warn that an export ban would likely only provide a temporary reprieve from sky-high diesel prices and would backfire in the medium and long run.
    — Matt Egan, CNN Money, 22 Sep. 2026
  • To help, British Columbia transported in temporary workers, who needed temporary housing, to keep up with demand for emergency services.
    — Ashley Belanger, ArsTechnica, 22 Sep. 2026
Definition of temporary
Adjective
  • Mnemosyne tries to cheer him up by pointing out that the poet can show the permanent and divine in what is apparently transient and mortal.
    — Max Norman, Harpers Magazine, 22 Sep. 2026
  • According to the company, its grid-forming control strategy can maintain stable operation across an SCR range of 1 to 40, while also helping mitigate transient overvoltage.
    — Georgina Jedikovska, Interesting Engineering, 17 Sep. 2026
Definition of transient
Adjective
  • Maryland’s reliance on the passing game could pose problems for a secondary that was picked apart by Purdue quarterback Ryan Browne last week and is still without free safety Tao Johnson.
    — Connor Dullinger, Los Angeles Times, 25 Sep. 2026
  • Gaines has 234 yards and two touchdowns on 45 carries, as well as 58 yards and a touchdown in the passing game.
    — Shaun Goodwin, Idaho Statesman, 24 Sep. 2026
Definition of passing
Adjective
  • Still, this is evanescent stuff, hardly weighty enough to get mad about with respect to the aforementioned problematic areas.
    — Leslie Felperin, HollywoodReporter, 28 Aug. 2025
  • The benefits of being a statesman, analysts say, can be evanescent if domestic woes keep piling up.
    — Mark Landler, New York Times, 23 Mar. 2025
Definition of evanescent
Adjective
  • The Leipzig scenes are both ephemeral and integral; later, Taro will speculate that if the Germans had had the same revolutionary zeal as the Spanish, Hitler might have been defeated.
    — Damon Wise, Deadline, 3 Sep. 2026
  • Viral memes and videos are often good for only ephemeral dopamine hits, but leave the elixir to the humor and talent of the Gregory Brothers, a longtime musical quartet.
    — Doug Turnbull, AJC.com, 23 Aug. 2026
Definition of ephemeral
Adjective
  • Since his confirmation earlier this year, the central bank has split further on whether inflation is truly transitory; last month’s decision to keep rates steady resulted in the most dissents since 1970.
    — Eleanor Mueller, semafor.com, 28 Aug. 2026
  • That all prices – high and low – are transitory is tautological.
    — John Tamny, Forbes.com, 23 Aug. 2026
Definition of transitory
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

fuels
fugacious
fuggy
See all Nearby Words

Podcast

Cite this Entry

“Fugacious.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fugacious. Accessed 26 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Words of the Week - Sept. 25
See More

Popular

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
image of the words cracker fly and sale arranged in a triangle with the word fire in the middle
Triple Play Quiz Find the word that pairs with each of the three g...
See All