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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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of impermanence
The impermanence of romantic relationships, with or without children, is a theme.
—
Sophie Monks Kaufman, IndieWire, 17 Feb. 2026
These transitions have wrought a new relationship to impermanence, and to the meaning of both family and home, installing grief as a permanent fixture in my life and making even my parents’ home feel slightly foreign now that my father no longer lives there.
—Naomi Jackson, Curbed, 11 Feb. 2026
Flowers are symbolic in Buddhism and reflect core teachings, such as impermanence, enlightenment and interconnectedness.
—Michelle Del Rey, USA Today, 11 Feb. 2026
Japan is an island nation where people feel the changing of the seasons and find beauty in wabi-sabi, the appreciation of impermanence and imperfection.
—Charlie Vargas, Daily News, 6 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for impermanence
Sophie Monks Kaufman, IndieWire, 17 Feb. 2026
These transitions have wrought a new relationship to impermanence, and to the meaning of both family and home, installing grief as a permanent fixture in my life and making even my parents’ home feel slightly foreign now that my father no longer lives there.
—Naomi Jackson, Curbed, 11 Feb. 2026
Flowers are symbolic in Buddhism and reflect core teachings, such as impermanence, enlightenment and interconnectedness.
—Michelle Del Rey, USA Today, 11 Feb. 2026
Japan is an island nation where people feel the changing of the seasons and find beauty in wabi-sabi, the appreciation of impermanence and imperfection.
—Charlie Vargas, Daily News, 6 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for impermanence
Recent Examples of Synonyms for impermanence
Noun
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An objective, multi faceted gaze into past tragedies and today’s transiences.—
Matthew Carey,
Deadline,
15 Mar. 2026
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This transience helps The Darling stay fresh, allowing guests to engage with works at the cutting-edge of the Danish art scene.—
Stephanie Gavan,
Vogue,
9 Jan. 2026
Noun
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How much of his life, his desperate desire for success, greatness, had been prompted by his shortness?—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
11 Mar. 2026
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The team’s mean average height is 6-foot-4 due to the notable shortness of main rotation guards Tre Jones (6-foot-1) and Rob Dillingham (6-foot-2) and two-way guards Yuki Kawamura (5-foot-7) and Mac McClung (6-foot-2).—
Colleen Kane,
Chicago Tribune,
10 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Below the videos in Rebane’s archive, there is a chorus of voices doing their best to leave a permanent mark in the ephemerality of the internet.—
Bijan Stephen,
Longreads,
26 Feb. 2026
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There’s a certain catch-as-catch-can ephemerality to this work, which tends to appear for quick two- or three-day engagements, sometimes in familiar places—Lincoln Center’s dizzying Festival of Firsts (in the David Rubenstein Atrium, through Oct. 23), for instance—and sometimes farther afield.—
Helen Shaw,
New Yorker,
17 Oct. 2025
Noun
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That is everybody in college basketball in an era of transaction and transiency that has been compared to unlimited free agency without a salary cap.—
Mark Zeigler,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
6 Apr. 2026
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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
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 23 Apr. 2026.
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