fleeting
pronunciation
How to pronounce fleeting in British English:
UK [ˈfli:tɪŋ]
How to pronounce fleeting in American English:
US [ˈflitɪŋ]
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- Adjective:
- lasting for a markedly brief time
Word Origin
- fleeting (adj.)
- early 13c., "fickle, shifting, unstable," from Old English fleotende "floating, drifting," later "flying, moving swiftly," from present participle of fleotan "to float, drift, flow" (see fleet (v.)). Meaning "existing only briefly" is from 1560s. Related: Fleetingly.
Example
- 1. The resulting feelings of euphoria are often only fleeting .
- 2. But the fleeting ego gratification harper derived from his conquests came at a steep price .
- 3. The diversion was fleeting , for they succumbed almost immediately to the waning of oxygen .
- 4. A fleeting early morning ground fog deliver some rare humidity to the air above the desert .
- 5. Yet the shift to automated warfare may offer only a fleeting strategic advantage to the united states .