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

Inspired by the transient beauty of cherry blossoms, known in Japan as sakura — which is illustrated in their album cover, alongside a dark pegasus — much of the LP also hinges on melodrama.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 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

The ride and roadholding compromise is well struck, with road impacts well damped and muffled, and transient body motions kept in check.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 1, 2026

The system is also only the second known long-period radio transient found to produce regular X-rays.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 2, 2026

Anything we do in this transient, secondary social way, compulsively and with all our energies but only for a brief period of our history, cannot be counted as social behavior in the biological sense.

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

"Long-period radio transients have puzzled astronomers for years," Mr. Rose said.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 2, 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

Time was unorganized except for the communal work, field labor, gardening, woodcutting, maintenance, for which transients such as myself were called on by whatever group most needed a hand.

From "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K. Le Guin

Related Words

• ephemeral
• fleeting
• short-term
• transitory