Momentary
adj ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
- 1 Lasting for only a moment.
- 2 Happening at every moment; perpetual. obsolete
- 3 Ephemeral or relatively short-lived.
"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!"
- 1 lasting for a markedly brief time wordnet
Example
More examples"He gave a momentary glance to the passers by."
Etymology
From Middle English momentare, from Late Latin mōmentārius (“of brief duration”), from mōmentum (“a short time, an instant”). By surface analysis, moment + -ary.
Related phrases
More for "momentary"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.