ephemera
Americannoun
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a mayfly, esp one of the genus Ephemera
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something transitory or short-lived
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(functioning as plural) a class of collectable items not originally intended to last for more than a short time, such as tickets, posters, postcards, or labels
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a plural of ephemeron
Etymology
Origin of ephemera
1670–80; < Greek ephḗmera, neuter plural of ephḗmeros, taken as singular; ephemeral
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Games back then were rapt-audience monuments, not ephemera to glance at while futzing around group texts and prediction market apps.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 30, 2026
Contemporaries were convinced that his motivation for publishing Mansfield’s ephemera wasn’t so much reverence for her talent as greed for hard cash.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 30, 2026
This is where the oils live, and the spices, and the half-forgotten jars of jam, olives, vinegars and other bits of kitchen ephemera that have been quietly waiting for their moment.
From Salon • Jan. 11, 2026
Jellycat toys have also been a growing trend among "kidults" - adults with a strong interest in toys and childish ephemera, such as Lego and Sonny Angels dolls.
From BBC • Jul. 11, 2025
"Oh yes, we can all bear it; and by so much we ephemera get back our lost significance, our sovereignty."
From The Open Question a tale of two temperaments by Robins, Elizabeth
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
