English

Adjective

momentary ‎(comparative more momentary, superlative most momentary)

1. Lasting for only a moment.
2. Happening at every moment; perpetual.
3. Ephemeral or relatively short-lived.

1. • 1749, John Cleland, Fanny Hill: Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure, Part 3

     Yet oh! what an immense difference did I feel between this impression of a pleasure merely animal, and struck out of the collision of the sexes by a passive bodily effect, from that sweet fury, that rage of active delight which crowns the enjoyments of a mutual love-passion, where two hearts, tenderly and truly united, club to exalt the joy, and give it a spirit and soul that bids defiance to that end which mere momentary desires generally terminate in, when they die of a surfeit of satisfaction!

   • 1907, Harold Bindloss, chapter 20, in The Dust of Conflict:

     Tony's face expressed relief, and Nettie sat silent for a moment until the vicar said “It was a generous impulse, but it may have been a momentary one, […] .”

Synonyms

• See also Wikisaurus:ephemeral

Derived terms

• momentarily
• momentary god

Translations

Anagrams

• manometry