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

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.
Recent Examples of impermanence The structure explores Denes’ lifelong exploration of pyramids merged with nature’s impermanence, using native plants that grow and decay over time. Rana Good, Forbes.com, 25 Apr. 2025 It was made of sandalwood, which Buddhists believe is a reminder of the impermanence of life. Sui-Lee Wee, New York Times, 11 Apr. 2025 Buddhism teaches impermanence as a path to compassion and non-attachment. Greg Orme, Forbes.com, 2 Apr. 2025 Bringing this piece to the Bangkok Experimental Film Festival is important because this city, this region, understands impermanence. Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 22 Jan. 2025 See All Example Sentences for impermanence
Recent Examples of Synonyms for impermanence
Noun
  • Fallen blossoms whisper on the damp earth, a fleeting poem of transience.
    Saman Shafiq, USA Today, 1 May 2025
  • While these two exhibits may feel distinct, for Suh, all of his work interrogates the boundaries between personal and public space, and the conditions that force transience or enable permanence.
    Megan Williams, CNN Money, 1 May 2025
Noun
  • Mohammadi works with materials that disintegrate, for instance halva, soap, letting their ephemerality echo the fragility of memory.
    Nargess Banks, Forbes.com, 26 May 2025
  • Jia’s sense of the ephemerality of the medium, and of the world that the medium reflects, has seldom been more stirringly profound.
    Justin Chang, New Yorker, 2 May 2025
Noun
  • But transiency in the back of the bullpen extends well beyond Woodward’s arrival.
    Dallas News, Dallas News, 27 July 2022
  • 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
  • To explain why a gag is funny is to crush its soufflé evanescence.
    Stephanie Zacharek, TIME, 19 Mar. 2025
  • 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

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Cite this Entry

“Impermanence.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/impermanence. Accessed 5 Jun. 2025.

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