Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Fleeting |
FleetingAdjective1. Moving or passing by very swiftly; "fleeting clouds passing before the face of the moon". 2. Lasting for a markedly brief time; "a fleeting glance"; "fugitive hours"; "rapid momentaneous association of things that meet and pass"; "a momentary glimpse". Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "fleeting" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1321. (references) |
Synonyms: FleetingSynonyms: fugitive (adj), momentaneous (adj), momentary (adj). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Transientness | Adjective: transient, transitory, transitive; passing, evanescent, fleeting, cursory, short-lived, ephemeral; flying; Verb: fugacious, fugitive; shifting, slippery; spasmodic; instantaneous, momentaneous. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Fleeting |
| English words defined with "fleeting": brevity, briefness ♦ Fleetingly, fugitive, Fugitive compositions ♦ gloriously ♦ Light-winged ♦ momentaneous, momentary ♦ temporal, Temporal augment, transience. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "fleeting": Clouds, Courtship ♦ Eel ♦ Frightened, Frogs ♦ Harem, Horse ♦ Jessamine ♦ looking ♦ Zebra. (references) |
| Etymologies containing "fleeting": Oleoptene. (references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | Physical wounds are fleeting - a vampire's immortal flesh begins to close as soon as it is cleaved (Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver; writing credit: Amy Hennig) A slave stood behind the conqueror, holding a golden crown, and whispering in his ear a warning: that all glory is fleeting. (Patton; writing credit: Ladislas Farago; Omar N. Bradley) It's astounding, time is fleeting, madness takes its toll (The Rocky Horror Picture Show; writing credit: Richard O'Brien; Jim Sharman) Power is fleeting; love is eternal (Krull; writing credit: Stanford Sherman) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title |
Books | |
Music |
|
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit |  | The fleeting day. Credit: Library of Congress. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
| Author | Quotation |
Ann Landers | Sensual pleasures have the fleeting brilliance of a comet; a happy marriage has the tranquillity of a lovely sunset. |
Charles Baudelaire | Modernity is the transient, the fleeting, the contingent; it is one half of art, the other being the eternal and the immovable. |
Hippocrates | Life is short, art long, opportunity fleeting, experience treacherous, judgment difficult. |
Horace | Alas, Postumus, Postumus, the fleeting years slip by. |
Napoleon Bonaparte | Glory is fleeting, but obscurity is forever. |
Sallust | The glory that goes with wealth and beauty is fleeting and fragile; virtue is a possession glorious and eternal. |
| The renown which riches or beauty confer is fleeting and frail; mental excellence is splendid and lasting possession. | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | |
| Title | Author | Quote |
Les Miserables | Hugo, Victor | It is the fleeting vanity of the streamlet swelled by the storm |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Health | But childhood friendships may be fleeting, and early confidences are sometimes betrayed. (references) | |
Hundreds of pain syndromes or disorders make up the spectrum of pain. There are the most benign, fleeting sensations of pain, such as a pin prick. (references) | ||
Symptoms of lower motor neuron degeneration include muscle weakness and atrophy, muscle cramps, and fleeting twitches of muscles that can be seen under the skin (fasciculations). (references) | ||
Lexicography | Devil's Dictionary | LOOKING-:GLASS:, n. A vitreous plane upon which to display a fleeting show for man's disillusion given. The King of Manchuria had a magic looking-glass, whereon whoso looked saw, not his own image, but only that of the king. A certain courtier who had long enjoyed the king's favor and was thereby enriched beyond any other subject of the realm, said to the king: "Give me, I pray, thy wonderful mirror, so that when absent out of thine august presence I may yet do homage before thy visible shadow, prostrating myself night and morning in the glory of thy benign countenance, as which nothing has so divine splendor, O Noonday Sun of the Universe!" Please with the speech, the king commanded that the mirror be conveyed to the courtier's palace; but after, having gone thither without apprisal, he found it in an apartment where was naught but idle lumber. And the mirror was dimmed with dust and overlaced with cobwebs. This so angered him that he fisted it hard, shattering the glass, and was sorely hurt. Enraged all the more by this mischance, he commanded that the ungrateful courtier be thrown into prison, and that the glass be repaired and taken back to his own palace; and this was done. But when the king looked again on the mirror he saw not his image as before, but only the figure of a crowned ass, having a bloody bandage on one of its hinder hooves -- as the artificers and all who had looked upon it had before discerned but feared to report. Taught wisdom and charity, the king restored his courtier to liberty, had the mirror set into the back of the throne and reigned many years with justice and humility; and one day when he fell asleep in death while on the throne, the whole court saw in the mirror the luminous figure of an angel, which remains to this day. |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| Speaker | Term | Phrase(s) |
Richard Nixon | 1969-1974 | Each moment in history is a fleeting time, precious and unique. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| "Fleeting" is generally used as an adjective (general or positive) -- approximately 70.30% of the time. "Fleeting" is used about 202 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Adjective (general or positive) | 70.3% | 142 | 26,554 |
| Lexical Verb (-ing form) | 23.76% | 48 | 49,194 |
| Noun (proper) | 4.46% | 9 | 117,287 |
| Noun (singular) | 1.49% | 3 | 202,518 |
| Total | 100.00% | 202 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
| The following table summarizes the usage of "fleeting" based on a population census conducted in the United States. Ranks and frequencies are based on all names reported and classified. |
| Name | Usage/Gender | Usage per 100 million Persons | Rank in USA |
| Fleeting | Last name | 130 | 57,279 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits. | |||
Expressions using "fleeting": fleeting information ♦ for a fleeting moment. Additional references. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day |
fleeting | 9 |
fleeting julie | 4 |
fleeting glory | 3 |
fancy fleeting | 2 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Language | Translations for "fleeting"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Albanian | fluturak (ephemeral, flying, volant), flutur (butterfly), i shpejtë (agile, arrowy, brisk, dashing, expedite, expeditious, express, fast, fleet, fleet of foot, fleet-footed, flying, hasty, imminent, mercurial, prompt, quick, rapid, smart, spanking, speedy, swift, volant, wanton, winged, wing-footed), i shkurtër (brief, curt, little, momentary, near, recapitulatory, scrubby, short, stubby, terse, transitory), i rrufeshëm (fulminant, lightning-like). (various references) | |
Arabic | لحظة عابرة, زيارة سريعة, عابر (ephemeral, in transit, parlous, passing, precarious, sneak, stealthy, tenuous, transient, transitory). (various references) | |
Bulgarian | краткотраен (deciduous, ephemeral, fugacious, momentary, perishable, rapid, short, transitory, unabiding), преходен (caducous, deciduous, fugitive, in between, intermediate, passing, temporal, temporary, transient, transit, transition, transitional, transitive, transitory, unabiding). (various references) | |
Chinese | 暂短. (various references) | |
Czech | prchavý (elusive, elusory, ephemeral, fragile, fugitive, volatile), letmý (casual, cursorial, cursory, flying, hurried, quick). (various references) | |
Danish | forbigående signal (fleeting indication), flaadningsomraade (fleeting area), transientindikering (fleeting information, transient information), transient signal (fleeting indication), melding om transient tilstand (fleeting information, transient information), melding om forbigående tilstand (fleeting information, transient information), ankerplads (anchorage, basin, fleeting area, flooding, tying-up place). (various references) | |
Dutch | voorbijgaande melding (fleeting indication), vluchtige informatie (fleeting information, transient information), veeg-melding (fleeting indication), transiënte informatie (fleeting information, transient information), ankerplaats (anchorage). (various references) | |
Finnish | tuvainen (ethereal, evanescent, fugitive, passing, volatile), tuva (ethereal, evanescent, fugitive, passing, volatile), ohikiitävä. (various references) | |
French | fugitif. (various references) | |
German | flüchtig (volatile, ephemeral, fugitive, sketchily, voltile). (various references) | |
Greek | φεύγων, φευγαλέοσ. (various references) | |
Hebrew | חולף (ephemeral, evanescent, fugitive, passing, transient, transitory). (various references) | |
Hungarian | múló (fugacious, fugitive, transient). (various references) | |
Indonesian | fana (fugacious, mortal, transitory). (various references) | |
Italian | fugace (fugacious, short lived), volatile (volatile), transitorio (transitory, transient), labile (disoriented, labile, unstable). (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | 淡い (faint, light, pale). (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | ほうまつてき (ephemeral, like a bubble on liquid, passing, transient), かり (acting, assumed, borrowing, clip, cut, debt, hunting, informal, interim, loan, lower official, potash, potassium, provisional, prune, reap, shear, temporary, trim, unauthorized, wild goose), あわい (faint, light, pale), はかない (empty, ephemeral, fickle, miserable, momentary, short-lived, transient, vain). (various references) | |
Korean | 쏜살같은. (various references) | |
Manx | giare-heiltagh (ephemeral, evanescent, short-lived). (various references) | |
Pig Latin | eetingflay.(various references) | |
Portuguese | fugitivo (fleer, fugitive, runagate, runaway), fugaz (fugacious, temporary), transitório (transient), efêmero (deciduous, drake, ephemeral, frail, fugacious, momentary, perishable, perishing, transient, transitory). (various references) | |
Romanian | fugar (exile, fugitive, hasty, rapid, refugee, runaway, Steed), vremelnic (ephemeral, temporal, temporarily, temporary, transient, transitory), temporar (acting, casual, makeshift, pro tempore, provisional, provisionally, provisory, temporarily, temporary), efemer (diurnal, ephemeral, evanescent, fugitive, fungous, momentary, passing, short lived, temporary, transient), cãlãtor (excursionist, fare, goer, itinerant, passenger, peregrine, peripatetic, pilgrim, rider, roaming, short lived, tourist, transitory, traveller, travelling, vagrant, visitor, voyager, wayfarer, wayfaring man). (various references) | |
Russian | мимолетный (evanescent). (various references) | |
Scottish | siùbhlach (fluent). (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | prolazan (brief, caducous, evanescent, fly-by-night, fugacious, momentary, negotiable, passable, passing, perishable, pervious, temporary, transient, transitory), nestalan (changeable, erratic, fickle, impermanent, inconsistent, inconstant, mercurial, shifty, skittish, transient, unabiding, unsteady, versatile, volatile, voluble). (various references) | |
Spanish | fugaz (ephemeral, fugacious, sketchily, transient). (various references) | |
Swedish | flyktig (volatile, cursory, flighty). (various references) | |
Thai | ชั่วแล่น. (various references) | |
Turkish | fani (earth-born, earthling, ephemeral, evanescent, fading, fleet, transient, transitory), kısacık (fleet, very short), kısa süren (fleet, short winded), çabuk geçen (swift). (various references) | |
Ukrainian | швидкоплинний (fugitive, galloping, profluent, torrential, transient), швидкий (agile, arrowy, dapper, double quick, expeditious, fast, fleet, hasty, nippy, precipitate, present, prompt, quick, rapid, snappy, spanking, speedy, summary, swift, whipping, zippy). (various references) | |
Vietnamese | thoáng qua; phù du, lướt nhanh. (various references) | |
Welsh | diflanedig (evanescent). (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | labilis, volatilis, volucre, volucrem, volucres, volucresque, volucri, volucribus, volucris, volucrum. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "fleeting": fleetingly, fleetingness, fleetingnesses. (additional references) | |
| |
"Fleeting" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: feeting, fleating, fleding, fleeding, fleeling, Fleetwing, fleeying, Flestrin, fleving, flyting, flytings, leeting. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "fleeting" (pronounced flē"ting) |
| 5 | -l ē" t i ng | completing, deleting, depleting. |
| 4 | -ē" t i ng | beating, cheating, competing, defeating, eating, greeting, heating, meeting, mistreating, overeating, repeating, retreating, seating, sheeting, Sweeting, treating, unseating. |
| 3 | -t i ng | annotating, anticipating, appointing, appreciating, appropriating, approximating, arbitrating, abrogating, abutting, accelerating, accenting, accentuating, accepting, accommodating, abating, abbreviating, abdicating, abducting, abetting, aborting, accosting, accounting, accrediting, accumulating, acquitting, acting, activating, adapting, addicting, adjudicating, adjusting, administrating, admitting, adopting, advocating, affecting, affiliating, afflicting, aggravating, agitating, airlifting, alerting, alienating, alleviating, allocating, allotting, alternating, amounting, arresting, articulating, assassinating, assaulting, asserting, assimilating, assisting, associating, attempting, attesting, attracting, attributing, auditing, augmenting, authenticating, automating, averting, awaiting, babysitting, backbiting, baiting, balloting, bankrupting, batting, befitting, begetting, belting, benefiting, benefitting, berating, besetting, besting, betting, biting, bitting, blacklisting, blanketing, blasting, bloating, bloodletting, blunting, boasting, boating, bolting, boosting, booting, boycotting, breasting, broadcasting, budgeting, bullfighting, bunting, bursting, busting, butting, calculating, captivating, carpeting, carting, castigating, casting, castrating, catapulting, cavorting, celebrating, cementing, chanting, charting, chatting, chlorinating, circulating, circumventing, citing, clotting, coagulating, coasting, coating, coexisting, cohabiting, collaborating, collecting, combating, combatting, comforting, commemorating, commenting, committing, communicating, commuting, compensating, complementing, complicating, complimenting, composting, computing, concentrating, concocting, conducting, confiscating, conflicting, confronting, congratulating, connecting, consenting, consisting, consolidating, consorting, constituting, constricting, constructing, consulting, consummating, contacting, contaminating, contemplating, contesting, contracting, contradicting, contrasting, contributing, converting, convicting, cooperating, coordinating, copycatting, correcting, correlating, corroborating, corrupting, costing, counteracting, Counterfeiting, counting, courting, crafting, crating, creating, crediting, cresting, culminating, cultivating, cutting, darting, dating, daunting, debating, debilitating, decaffeinating, decanting, decelerating, decimating, decorating, dedicating, deducting, defaulting, defecting, deflating, deflecting, defrosting, degenerating, delegating, deliberating, delighting, delineating, delisting, demonstrating, denigrating, denting, departing, depicting, deporting, depositing, deprecating, depreciating, deregulating, deserting, designating, destructing, detecting, deteriorating, detonating, detracting, devastating, devoting, dictating, dieting, differentiating, digesting, diluting, directing, disappointing, disconcerting, disconnecting, discounting, discrediting, discriminating, disgusting, disintegrating, disorienting, dispiriting, disputing, disquieting, disrespecting, disrupting, dissecting, disseminating, dissenting, dissipating, distorting, distracting, distributing, districting, diverting, divesting, documenting, domesticating, dominating, donating, doting, dotting, doubting, drafting, drifting, duplicating, dusting, editing, educating, effecting, elaborating, elating, electing, electroplating, elevating, eliciting, eliminating, emanating, emigrating, emitting, emulating, enacting, encapsulating, enchanting, encrusting, enlisting, entrusting, enunciating, equating, equivocating, eradicating, erecting, erupting, escalating, escorting, estimating, evacuating, evaluating, evaporating, everlasting, evicting, exacerbating, exacting, exaggerating, exalting, exasperating, excavating, excepting, exciting, excoriating, excruciating, executing, exempting, exerting, exhausting, exhibiting, exhilarating, exhorting, existing, exiting, exonerating, expecting, expediting, experimenting, exploiting, exporting, extenuating, exterminating, extorting, extracting, extraditing, extrapolating, fabricating, facilitating, fainting, fascinating, fasting, faulting, feasting, fermenting, ferreting, Fetting, fidgeting, fighting, fingerprinting, firefighting, fitting, flaunting, flirting, flitting, floating, flouting, fluctuating, fomenting, footing, footnoting, forecasting, forfeiting, forgetting, formulating, fragmenting, fretting, fronting, frosting, fruiting, frustrating, generating, getting, gifting, glinting, gloating, graduating, grafting, granting, grating, gravitating, gritting, grouting, grunting, gunfighting, gusting, gutting, gyrating, hallucinating, halting, handwriting, harvesting, Hasting, hating, haunting, hesitating, highlighting, hinting, hitting, hoisting, homeporting, hosting, humiliating, hunting, hurting, hydrogenating, igniting, illuminating, illustrating, imitating, impacting, imparting, impersonating, implanting, implementing, implicating, importing, imprinting, inaugurating, incapacitating, incarcerating, incinerating, inciting, incorporating, incriminating, incubating, indicating, indicting, infatuating, infecting, infighting, infiltrating, inflating, inflicting, infuriating, ingesting, ingratiating, inhabiting, inheriting, inhibiting, initiating, injecting, innovating, inserting, insinuating, insisting, inspecting, instigating, instituting, instructing, insulating, insulting, integrating, interacting, intercepting, interdicting, interesting, interpreting, interrogating, interrupting, intersecting, intimidating, intoxicating, inundating, invalidating, inventing, investigating, investing, invigorating, inviting, irritating, isolating, jetting, jolting, jousting, jutting, kiting, knitting, lactating, lambasting, lamenting, laminating, lasting, legislating, letting, levitating, liberating, lifting, lighting, limiting, liquidating, listing, litigating, locating, looting, lubricating, lusting, malting, mandating, manifesting, manipulating, marketing, marting, masturbating, mating, matting, mediating, meditating, melting, migrating, minting, misappropriating, misinterpreting, misrepresenting, misstating, mitigating, moderating, molesting, molting, moonlighting, motivating, mounting, mutating, mutilating, muting, nauseating, navigating, necessitating, negating, neglecting, negotiating, nesting, netting, nitrating, nominating, nonbiting, nonoperating, nonsporting, nonvoting, noting, Nutting, objecting, obliterating, obstructing, obviating, officiating, offsetting, omitting, operating, opting, orbiting, orchestrating, originating, oscillating, ousting, Outfitting, outing, outwitting, overestimating, overheating, overreacting, overshooting, overstating, painting, panting, parachuting, parenting, participating, parting, pasting, patenting, patting, penetrating, percolating, perfecting, permeating, permitting, perpetrating, perpetuating, persecuting, persisting, perverting, petting, picketing, piloting, pinpointing, pirating, pitting, placating, planting, plating, plotting, plummeting, pocketing, pointing, polluting, pontificating, populating, porting, posting, pouting, precipitating, predicting, predominating, preempting, preexisting, presenting, preventing, printing, procrastinating, profiting, prognosticating, prohibiting, projecting, proliferating, promoting, prompting, promulgating, propagating, prosecuting, prospecting, protecting, protesting, pulsating, purporting, putting, quieting, quilting, quitting, quoting, radiating, rafting, ranting, ratcheting, rating, reacting, reactivating, readjusting, reallocating, reasserting, rebutting, recalculating, recanting, recasting, reciprocating, reciting, recollecting, reconnecting, reconstituting, reconstructing, recounting, recreating, recruiting, recuperating, redacting, redecorating, redirecting, redistributing, redistricting, reelecting, reevaluating, refitting, reflecting, refuting, regenerating, regretting, regulating, rehabilitating, reigniting, reincorporating, reinstating, reinstituting, reinterpreting, reinventing, reinvesting, reinvigorating, reiterating, rejecting, rejuvenating, relating, relegating, relenting, relocating, remarketing, renegotiating, renovating, renting, repainting, repatriating, replanting, replicating, reporting, representing, reprinting, repudiating, requesting, rerouting, resenting, resisting, resonating, resorting, respecting, restarting, restating, resting, restricting, resubmitting, resulting, resurrecting, resuscitating, retaliating, retesting, retracting, retrofitting, reuniting, reverberating, reverting, revisiting, revolting, rewriting, rioting, riveting, roasting, rocketing, rooting, rotating, rotting, rusting, salivating, salting, saluting, saturating, scapegoating, scouting, sculpting, sedating, segregating, selecting, separating, setting, shafting, shifting, shooting, shoplifting, shorting, shouting, shunting, shutting, sifting, sighting, simulating, siting, sitting, skating, skirting, skyrocketing, skywriting, slanting, slighting, slitting, slotting, smarting, smelting, snorting, soliciting, somersaulting, songwriting, sorting, speculating, spitting, splitting, sporting, spotlighting, spotting, spouting, sprinting, sprouting, spurting, squatting, squinting, squirting, stagnating, starting, stating, stimulating, stipulating, strutting, subcontracting, subjecting, submitting, subordinating, substituting, subtracting, subverting, suffocating, suggesting, superconducting, supplanting, supplementing, supporting, surmounting, suspecting, sweating, syndicating, tabulating, tainting, targeting, tasting, taunting, telecommuting, telemarketing, tempting, tenting, terminating, testing, thermosetting, thrusting, thwarting, ticketing, tilting, titillating, toasting, tolerating, tormenting, toting, touting, translating, transmitting, transplanting, transporting, trotting, trumpeting, trusting, twisting, typecasting, typesetting, Typewriting, undercutting, underestimating, underreporting, understating, underwriting, undulating, unexciting, uninteresting, uninviting, uniting, unrelenting, unremitting, unstinting, unsuspecting, unwitting, updating, uplifting, uprooting, upsetting, urinating, vacating, vacillating, validating, vaulting, ventilating, venting, vesting, vetting, vibrating, violating, visiting, vomiting, voting, wafting, waiting, wanting, wasting, weighting, weightlifting, wetting, whiting, wildcatting, wilting, witting, wresting, writing, yachting. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "e-e-f-g-i-l-n-t" | |
-1 letter: feeling, felting, fleeing, gentile. | |
-2 letters: elegit, feeing, feline, feting, gentil, gentle, teeing, tingle. | |
-3 letters: elfin, elint, elite, feign, feint, filet, fleet, fling, flint, flite, genet, genie, gleet, glint, ingle, inlet, legit, liege, tenge, tinge. | |
-4 letters: feel, feet, felt, fete, file, fine, flee, flit, gelt, gene, gent, gien, gift, gilt, glee, glen, leet, left, lent. | |
| Words containing the letters "e-e-f-g-i-l-n-t" | |
+1 letter: telfering. | |
+2 letters: deflecting, fleetingly, leafleting, outfeeling, reflecting. | |
+3 letters: foretelling, leafletting, refiltering. | |
+4 letters: electrifying, fleetingness, genuflecting, genuflection. | |
+5 letters: flightinesses, genuflections, indefatigable, nonreflecting. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
