fleeting

English

WOTD – 3 December 2012, 3 December 2014

Etymology

From Middle English fleten (“to float”), from Old English flēotan (“to float”), from Proto-Germanic *fleutaną, from Proto-Indo-European *plewd-.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfliːtɪŋ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Adjective

fleeting (comparative more fleeting, superlative most fleeting)

1. Passing quickly; of short duration.
   • 1931, Martha Kinross, "The Screen — From This Side", The Fortnightly, Volume 130, page 511:

     Architecture, sculpture, painting are static arts. Even in literature "our flying minds," as George Meredith says, cannot contain protracted description. It is so; for from sequences of words they must assemble all the details in one simultaneous impression. But moments of fleeting beauty too transient to be caught by any means less swift than light itself are registered on the screen.

   • 2003, Gabrielle Walker, Snowball Earth: The Story of a Maverick Scientist and His Theory of the Global Catastrophe That Spawned Life As We Know It, Three Rivers Press (2003), →ISBN, pages 34-35:

     During the fleeting summer months of his field season, when the outer vestiges of winter melted briefly, there were ponds and pools and lakes of water everywhere.

   • 2008, Barbara L. Bellman & Susan Goldstein, Flirting After Fifty: Lessons for Grown-Up Women on How to Find Love Again, iUniverse (2008), →ISBN, page 12:

     For starters, we see examples all the time of some middle-aged men trying to hang onto their own fleeting youth by sporting younger women on their arms.

   • 2010, Leslie Ludy, The Lost Art of True Beauty: The Set-Apart Girl's Guide to Feminine Grace, Harvest House Publishers (2010), →ISBN, page 5:

     And I am inspired afresh to pursue the stunning beauty of Christ rather than the fleeting beauty of this world.

Synonyms

• ephemeral
• See also Thesaurus:ephemeral.

Translations

passing quickly

• Armenian: թռուցիկ (hy) (tʿṙucʿik), վաղանցիկ (hy) (vałancʿik), կարճատեւ (karčatew)
• Bulgarian: преходен (bg) (prehoden), бързо преминаващ (bǎrzo preminavašt), мимолетен (bg) (mimoleten)
• Catalan: fugaç (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 飛逝的 (zh), 飞逝的 (zh) (fēishì de), 短暫的 (zh), 短暂的 (zh) (duǎnzàn de)

• Czech: prchavý
• Danish: flygtig
• Dutch: vluchtig (nl)
• Finnish: ohikiitävä (fi), hetkellinen, haihtuva (fi), katoavainen (fi)
• French: fugace (fr), éphémère (fr), passagère (fr)
• Georgian: წარმავალი (c̣armavali), წამიერი (c̣amieri), სწრაფი (sc̣rapi), დროებითი (droebiti), გარდამავალი (gardamavali), დრომოკლე (dromoḳle), წამიერი (c̣amieri), წუთიერი (c̣utieri), სწრაფმდინარი (sc̣rapmdinari), სწრაფმავალი (sc̣rapmavali)
• German: flüchtig (de)
• Greek: πρόσκαιρος (el) (próskairos), εφήμερος (el) (efímeros)

• Hebrew: בן חלוף‎ (bén khalóf), בת חלוף‎ (bát khalóf)
• Hungarian: múló (hu), múlékony (hu), futó (hu), futólagos (hu), villám- (hu), tünékeny, elröppenő, elillanó, röpke (hu)
• Icelandic: skammær m, hverfull m, sem varir augnablik (is)
• Italian: fugace (it), sfuggevole, sfuggente (it), fuggevole (it)
• Japanese: 儚い (はかない, hakanai)
• Latin: fugax
• Maori: māngina, mōngina
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: flyktig

  Nynorsk: flyktig

• Persian: گذرا‎ (fa) (gozarâ)
• Polish: przelotny (pl), nikły (pl)
• Portuguese: fugaz (pt)
• Romanian: fugaci (ro), fugitiv (ro)
• Russian: мимолётный (ru) (mimoljótnyj), скороте́чный (ru) (skorotéčnyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: fuadain, siùbhlach
• Spanish: fugaz (es)
• Swedish: flyktig (sv)
• Ukrainian: швидкоплинний (švydkoplynnyj)

Usage notes

Often used with nouns indicating mental, perceptual, or emotional states, such as: "a fleeting thought", "a fleeting glimpse" "a fleeting impression", "a fleeting hope", or to indicate that the shortness of duration might be regretted : "fleeting beauty", "fleeting youth".

Verb

fleeting

1. present participle of fleet