as in transience
the state or quality of lasting only for a short time
the ancient Roman ruins are a telling reminder of the impermanence of even the grandest man-made constructions
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Recent Examples of impermanence
The key mechanism was impermanence focus; the realization that negative feelings fade with time and don't define our long-term trajectory.
—
Mark Murphy, Forbes.com, 18 Sep. 2025
With Ryan O’Neal as the conniving fool who social-climbs and lies his way through war and peace, Kubrick matches perfectly paced, often-hilarious satire with a sanguine view of human selfishness and impermanence.
—Christina Newland, Vulture, 5 Sep. 2025
The April cherry trees, with their brief pink opulence, seem infused with the spirit of mono no aware—the Japanese idea of the transience of things, the gentle sadness yet also the beauty of impermanence.
—Lauren Groff, The Atlantic, 20 Aug. 2025
Willed into existence by a dream rather than nature, there is something about its unique vulnerability to natural disasters that reflects its intrinsic sense of impermanence and optimism.
—Ella Berman
august 7, Literary Hub, 7 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for impermanence
Mark Murphy, Forbes.com, 18 Sep. 2025
With Ryan O’Neal as the conniving fool who social-climbs and lies his way through war and peace, Kubrick matches perfectly paced, often-hilarious satire with a sanguine view of human selfishness and impermanence.
—Christina Newland, Vulture, 5 Sep. 2025
The April cherry trees, with their brief pink opulence, seem infused with the spirit of mono no aware—the Japanese idea of the transience of things, the gentle sadness yet also the beauty of impermanence.
—Lauren Groff, The Atlantic, 20 Aug. 2025
Willed into existence by a dream rather than nature, there is something about its unique vulnerability to natural disasters that reflects its intrinsic sense of impermanence and optimism.
—Ella Berman
august 7, Literary Hub, 7 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for impermanence
Recent Examples of Synonyms for impermanence
Noun
-
Café Lisbeth hosts exhibitions on themes of transience and how humans have grappled with life’s passages throughout history.—
Diana Hubbell,
Saveur,
16 Oct. 2025
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Much of Gilbert’s early work displays an awareness of both the profundity and the transience of romance, and of the many different universes that one life can open into or contain.—
Jia Tolentino,
New Yorker,
25 Aug. 2025
Noun
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Luzzatto said the relative shortness of that term is scaring away capital.—
Matthew Geiger,
Denver Post,
19 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Also in Japan there is a strong connection and respect towards nature, people in Japan appreciate the ephemerality of it.—
Caterina De Biasio,
Vogue,
24 Sep. 2025
-
The show reflects on the ephemerality of cultural memory.—
Douglas Markowitz,
Miami Herald,
5 Sep. 2025
Noun
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But transiency in the back of the bullpen extends well beyond Woodward’s arrival.—
Dallas News,
Dallas News,
27 July 2022
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The council will hold a workshop outlining strategies and efforts to remedy homelessness and transiency in the city.—
Laura Groch,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
28 Feb. 2021
Noun
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To explain why a gag is funny is to crush its soufflé evanescence.—
Stephanie Zacharek,
TIME,
19 Mar. 2025
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The Stranger with its exploration of another facet of exile and belonging, this time set on a flood-prone German island that exists in a perpetual struggle between evanescence and permanence.—
Jay D. Weissberg,
Deadline,
19 Feb. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Impermanence.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/impermanence. Accessed 4 Nov. 2025.
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