Fleeting
adj, noun, verb ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
- 1 An automatic operation mode of an absolute signal that reserves a route for several trains following one another, without the need for dispatcher to re-set the route for each train. US, uncountable
- 1 present participle and gerund of fleet form-of, gerund, participle, present
- 1 Passing quickly; of short duration.
"Architecture, sculpture, painting are static arts. Even in literature "our flying minds," as George Meredith says, cannot contain protracted description. It is so; for from sequences of words they must assemble all the details in one simultaneous impression. But moments of fleeting beauty too transient to be caught by any means less swift than light itself are registered on the screen."
- 2 That which flees, especially quickly; fugitive.
- 1 lasting for a markedly brief time wordnet
Example
More examples"Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised."
Etymology
From Middle English fleten (“to float”), from Old English flēotan (“to float”), from Proto-Germanic *fleutaną, from Proto-Indo-European *plewd-. By surface analysis, fleet + -ing.
Related phrases
More for "fleeting"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.