transitory

  • 1transitory — I adjective brief, cursory, ephemeral, evanescent, fleeting, flitting, fugacious, impermanent, momentary, not permanent, passing away, provisional, short lived, temporal, temporary, transient, unenduring, unstable, volatile associated concepts:… …

    Law dictionary

  • 2transitory — tran‧si‧to‧ry [ˈtrænztri ǁ tɔːri] adjective formal continuing or existing for only a short period of time: • The current weakness in gold is transitory and will eventually produce greater profits. • The last decade saw powerful but transitory… …

    Financial and business terms

  • 3Transitory — Tran si*to*ry, a. [L. transitorius: cf. F. transitoire. See {Transient}.] Continuing only for a short time; not enduring; fleeting; evanescent. [1913 Webster] Comfort and succor all those who, in this transitory life, are in trouble. Bk. of Com.… …

    The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • 4transitory — (adj.) late 14c., from O.Fr. transitoire (12c.), from L.L. transitorius passing, transient, from L., allowing passage through, from transitus, pp. of transire go or cross over (see TRANSIENT (Cf. transient)) …

    Etymology dictionary

  • 5transitory — *transient, passing, ephemeral, momentary, fugitive, fleeting, evanescent, short lived Antonyms: everlasting: perpetual …

    New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • 6transitory — ► ADJECTIVE ▪ not permanent; short lived. DERIVATIVES transitorily adverb transitoriness noun. ORIGIN Latin transitorius, from transire go across …

    English terms dictionary

  • 7transitory — [tran′sə tôr΄ē, tran′zətôr΄ē] adj. [ME transitorie < MFr transitoire < LL(Ec) transitorius < L, adapted for passing through < transitus: see TRANSIT] of a passing nature; not enduring or permanent; temporary, fleeting, or ephemeral;… …

    English World dictionary

  • 8transitory — transient, transitory Both words mean ‘brief, fleeting’, with transient conveying rather more strongly the notion of people or things ‘passing through’ while transitory denotes temporary situations that are more static: • The highly transient… …

    Modern English usage

  • 9transitory — [[t]træ̱nzɪtəri, AM tɔːri[/t]] ADJ GRADED If you say that something is transitory, you mean that it lasts only for a short time. Most teenage romances are transitory. ...a sad reminder of the transitory nature of political success. Syn: transient …

    English dictionary

  • 10transitory — adjective Etymology: Middle English transitorie, from Anglo French, from Late Latin transitorius, from Latin, of or allowing passage, from transire Date: 14th century 1. tending to pass away ; not persistent 2. of brief duration ; temporary < the …

    New Collegiate Dictionary