ZebraWords.com - The Definition of 'Ephemeral', Synonyms of 'Ephemeral' & More on 'Ephemeral'

1. WordNet® 3.0 (2006)

ephemeral
    adj 1: lasting a very short time; "the ephemeral joys of
           childhood"; "a passing fancy"; "youth's transient
           beauty"; "love is transitory but it is eternal";
           "fugacious blossoms" [syn: ephemeral, passing,
           short-lived, transient, transitory, fugacious]
    n 1: anything short-lived, as an insect that lives only for a
         day in its winged form [syn: ephemeron, ephemeral]

2. The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

Ephemeral \E*phem"er*al\, a.
   1. Beginning and ending in a day; existing only, or no longer
      than, a day; diurnal; as, an ephemeral flower.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. Short-lived; existing or continuing for a short time only.
      "Ephemeral popularity." --V. Knox.
      [1913 Webster]

            Sentences not of ephemeral, but of eternal,
            efficacy.                             --Sir J.
                                                  Stephen.
      [1913 Webster]

   Ephemeral fly (Zo["o]l.), one of a group of neuropterous
      insects, belonging to the genus Ephemera and many allied
      genera, which live in the adult or winged state only for a
      short time. The larv[ae] are aquatic; -- called also day
      fly and May fly.
      [1913 Webster]

3. The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

Ephemeral \E*phem"er*al\, n.
   Anything lasting but a day, or a brief time; an ephemeral
   plant, insect, etc.
   [1913 Webster]

Thesaurus Results for Ephemeral:

1. Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0

brief, brittle, capricious, changeable, corruptible, deciduous, dying, episodic, evanescent, evergreen, fading, fickle, fleeting, flitting, fly-by-night, flying, fragile, frail, fugacious, fugitive, half-hardy, hardy, impermanent, impetuous, impulsive, inconstant, insubstantial, momentary, mortal, mutable, nondurable, nonpermanent, passing, perennial, perishable, short, short-lived, subject to death, temporal, temporary, transient, transitive, transitory, undurable, unenduring, unstable, volatile

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