transient

American  

[tran-shuhnt, -zhuhnt, -zee-uhnt] / ˈtræn ʃənt, -ʒənt, -zi ənt /

adjective

1. 

   not lasting, enduring, or permanent; transitory.

2. lasting only a short time; existing briefly; temporary.

   transient authority.

   Synonyms:

   evanescent, fugitive, flying, fleeting

   Antonyms:

   permanent

3. staying only a short time.

   the transient guests at a hotel.

4. Philosophy. transeunt.

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noun

• transients
  plural

1. a person or thing that is transient, especially a temporary guest, boarder, laborer, or the like.

2. Mathematics.

   1. a function that tends to zero as the independent variable tends to infinity.

   2. a solution, especially of a differential equation, having this property.

3. Physics.

   1. a nonperiodic signal of short duration.

   2. a decaying signal, wave, or oscillation.

4. Electricity. a sudden pulse of voltage or current.

transient British  

/ ˈtrænzɪənt /

adjective

1. for a short time only; temporary or transitory

2. philosophy a variant of transeunt

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noun

1. a transient person or thing

2. physics a brief change in the state of a system, such as a sudden short-lived oscillation in the current flowing through a circuit

Synonym Usage

See temporary.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nontransientness
  noun
• transience
  noun
• transientness
  noun
• untransientness
  noun
• nontransient
  adjective
• untransient
  adjective
• nontransiently
  adverb
• transiently
  adverb
• untransiently
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• transients
  plural

Etymology

Origin of transient

First recorded in 1590–1600; from Latin trānsiēns “going across,” present participle of trānsīre “to go across, pass over”; see transit

Explanation

Use the adjective transient to describe something that always changes or moves around. If your older brother is constantly moving from city to city, you can say he's transient. Transient is most often used to modify nouns like nature, threat, source and cause, which suggests that the word often shows up in formal contexts, like analysis of finance or global terrorism. But it can also be used for anything that moves quickly from one thing to another, like a transient feeling or facial expression. Transient is also a noun meaning "a person who moves from place to place; a homeless person." The word comes from Latin transire, "to pass over," so you can think of it as describing things that are quickly passed over.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

transient transients

The result is pure, rich excess — a fashion documentary unlike any other, that manages to capture the transient joy and whimsy of an era where fashion was allowed to be, dare I say, fun.

From Salon ● Sep. 5, 2026

Gareth Richards from UK Seal Alliance says "seals are very transient, and will basically go to where there is good fish stocks".

From BBC ● Sep. 5, 2026

However, margin pressures in the quarter are likely transient, and the company’s cost structure should normalize and result in improving profitability, the analysts say.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026

Decisionmakers—including the Supreme Court and even transient majorities—can get things wrong, until we set them right, or at least make them more perfect.

From Slate ● Aug. 3, 2026

We are the delicate part, transient and vulnerable as cilia.

From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas

Meanwhile, he said the abandoned lot next door remains unsecured and swamped with trash from transients who frequent the site.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 1, 2026

While he’s trying to rebuild, he’s had to fend off transients who trespass onto his property on a regular basis.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 1, 2026

By combining observations across different wavelengths, they hope to better understand how these signals are produced and whether similar mechanisms can explain the broader population of long-period radio transients.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 2, 2026

When long-period radio transients were first discovered, many astronomers suspected they might be unusually slow-spinning neutron stars known as pulsars.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 2, 2026

Permanent transients with no attachments and tired looking men with their families and dogs in flivvers.

From "Their Eyes Were Watching God" by Zora Neale Hurston

Related Words

• ephemeral
• fleeting
• short-term
• transitory