transient

[tran-shuhnt, -zhuhnt, -zee-uhnt]

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.

noun

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

/ ˈtrænzɪənt /

adjective

1. for a short time only; temporary or transitory

2. philosophy a variant of transeunt

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

Other Word Forms

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of transient¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of transient¹

C17: from Latin transiēns going over, from transīre to pass over, from _trans- + īre to go

Synonym Study

See temporary.

Example Sentences

"I never asked for too much money, and fame is transient. All I ever wanted was people's love," he told an interviewer.

Read more on BBC

New findings show that the transient killer whales living along the West Coast between British Columbia and California are actually divided into two separate subpopulations known as inner and outer coast transients.

Read more on Science Daily

Researchers who study child labor say there are no solid numbers on how many minors work in California agriculture, in part because of the transient nature of the work and limited tracking by government agencies.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

After a visit with a neurologist, the actor said he learned he had a condition called transient global amnesia.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

“The diagnosis is really more than just transient sadness and the normal expected grief from the loss of a family member,” says Dr. Sanjay Mathew, president-elect of the Anxiety and Depression Association of America.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• ephemeral 
• fleeting 
• short-term 
• transitory