1
as in temporary
intended to last, continue, or serve for a limited time
built an impermanent structure to serve for the archaeologists' living quarters during the dig
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in flash
lasting only for a short time
a summer romance that was an impermanent fancy, quickly forgotten
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of impermanent
There is the notion of light, which for me—coming from Bangladesh and being in a pavilion and in our context—the form is a nod to the shamas (lightweight, impermanent canopy structures).
—
Nargess Banks, Forbes.com, 3 June 2025
Her death shortly after the future Buddha’s birth serves as a reminder that life is impermanent and characterized by suffering.
—Megan Bryson, The Conversation, 6 May 2025
That relationship with how impermanent our time is here has been really healthy.
—Eric Ryan, Forbes, 18 Mar. 2025
Any choices are impermanent given the Warriors’ injury report.
—Danny Emerman, The Mercury News, 23 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for impermanent
Nargess Banks, Forbes.com, 3 June 2025
Her death shortly after the future Buddha’s birth serves as a reminder that life is impermanent and characterized by suffering.
—Megan Bryson, The Conversation, 6 May 2025
That relationship with how impermanent our time is here has been really healthy.
—Eric Ryan, Forbes, 18 Mar. 2025
Any choices are impermanent given the Warriors’ injury report.
—Danny Emerman, The Mercury News, 23 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for impermanent
Recent Examples of Synonyms for impermanent
Adjective
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Stage two would see Gaza governed by a temporary transitional body consisting of a technocratic, apolitical committee composed of Palestinians and international members.—
Asher Kaufman,
The Conversation,
30 Sep. 2025
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This temporary relocation ensures that the Nashville Fire Department can continue serving the community while creating the necessary space for the construction of a modern headquarters and fire station.—
Kirsten Fiscus,
Nashville Tennessean,
29 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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What To Know A map shared by the NWS on Facebook showed a broad corridor of flash-flood risk spanning the Western states and Southern Plains.—
Hollie Silverman,
MSNBC Newsweek,
24 Aug. 2025
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The emerging miners, exposed directly to the flash during its first split second, were covered in flash-absorbing black.—
Charles Pellegrino,
Rolling Stone,
6 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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The Jackson County charter does not limit the number of years a county executive can stay in office, so White would be eligible to run again, as would an interim county executive if one is named.—
Ilana Arougheti,
Kansas City Star,
30 Sep. 2025
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Senior figures on the footballing side have yet to be told when a sporting director will be in place, either, with the interim structure, which presently contains a vacuum at the top of footballing operations, still in place.—
Chris Waugh,
New York Times,
30 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Even brief closures have cost the economy billions of dollars.—
Nik Popli,
Time,
1 Oct. 2025
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The Chinese navy already makes port calls in Myanmar, but these are brief stays in facilities too primitive to provide naval advantage.—
Dan Swift,
Foreign Affairs,
30 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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The finding of methane in gas form could be due to either the presence of a tenuous atmosphere on Makemake, or a more transient activity such as that experienced by comets when its volatiles sublimate, or from cryovolcanic plumes, according to the study authors.—
Andrew Jones,
Space.com,
28 Sep. 2025
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Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer.—
Liz Tracey,
JSTOR Daily,
26 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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From their perspective, a star is just a transitory stage, a chrysalis.—
Ross Andersen,
The Atlantic,
24 Sep. 2025
-
All empires are transitory, right?—
Nikki McCann Ramirez,
Rolling Stone,
22 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Emphasizing the project’s conceptual basis, one particularly ephemeral edition, The Biggest Nemyrivskiy Art Center, 2013, was a roughly nineteen-thousand-square-foot rectangle outlined on a snowy field by a plow, disappearing as soon as the snow began to melt.—
Joanna Warsza,
Artforum,
1 Oct. 2025
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Various cultures interpreted the ephemeral aberrations as fairies, ghosts or spirits.—
Rachel Nuwer,
Scientific American,
29 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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The raw sewage rises to the surface, adding to the unbearable stink, which spreads and worsens with every passing day.—
Eli Sharabi,
Time,
1 Oct. 2025
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Going into the game against the Gators, Manning has 888 passing yards and nine touchdown passes.—
Ryan Gaydos,
FOXNews.com,
1 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Impermanent.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/impermanent. Accessed 6 Oct. 2025.
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