Definition of TRANSIENT (original) (raw)
1
a
: passing especially quickly into and out of existence : transitory
b
: passing through or by a place with only a brief stay or sojourn
2
: affecting something or producing results beyond itself
1
a
: a guest or boarder who stays only briefly
b
: a person traveling about usually in search of work
2
a
: a temporary oscillation that occurs in a circuit because of a sudden change of voltage or of load
b
: a transient current or voltage
Did you know?
A transient mood is one that passes quickly. A brief stopover in a town on your way to somewhere else is a transient visit. A summer job on a farm is transient work, lasting only as long as the growing season. You may occasionally experience a transient episode of dizziness or weakness, which vanishes without a trace. As a noun, transient means a person who passes through a place, staying only briefly.
Synonyms
Choose the Right Synonym for transient
a hotel catering primarily to transient guests
transitory applies to what is by its nature or essence bound to change, pass, or come to an end.
fame in the movies is transitory
ephemeral implies striking brevity of life or duration.
many slang words are ephemeral
momentary suggests coming and going quickly and therefore being merely a brief interruption of a more enduring state.
my feelings of guilt were only momentary
fugitive and fleeting imply passing so quickly as to make apprehending difficult.
let a fugitive smile flit across his face
evanescent suggests a quick vanishing and an airy or fragile quality.
the story has an evanescent touch of whimsy that is lost in translation
Examples of transient in a Sentence
Adjective
A Summer in New York is actually Europe, the Sequel—city of transient Danes and Italians and Spaniards and French. —
Guy Trebay, Village Voice, 30 July 1991 But Vandenberg, who had already written a hagiographic biography of Hamilton, was doing his personal hero no service. Rather, he trivialized him by dragging him into the transient issues of the day. —John Steele Gordon, American Heritage, July/August 1990 The mountain lies between his residence and the main road, and occludes the expectation of transient visits. —Thomas Jefferson, letter, 4 Aug. 1820
had transient thoughts of quitting her job and going back to school
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
The vast majority of human encounters with venomous caterpillars result in mild and transient rashes and skin irritations that go away in a day or a few weeks at most. —Ivan Amato, Scientific American, 30 Jan. 2025 Paul’s attachments are ungraspable, transient, and forever underwritten by raw desire. —Vlada Gelman, TVLine, 27 Jan. 2025
Body camera video of the incident shows Deputy Lorena Gonzalez responding to the mall that night after authorities received a call about a transient sleeping at the mall, according to the lawsuit. —Salvador Hernandez, Los Angeles Times, 28 Dec. 2024 Previous reports suspected the Persian leopards may be settling into Kazakhstan with both extant, or full-time, and vagrant, or transient, populations, according to the IUCN Red List. —Irene Wright, Miami Herald, 15 Jan. 2025 See all Example Sentences for transient 
Word History
Etymology
Adjective and Noun
Latin transeunt-, transiens, present participle of transire to cross, pass by, from trans- + ire to go — more at issue entry 1
First Known Use
Adjective
1599, in the meaning defined at sense 1a
Noun
1660, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Time Traveler
The first known use of transient was in 1599
Dictionary Entries Near transient
Cite this Entry
“Transient.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/transient. Accessed 14 Feb. 2025.
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Last Updated: 6 Feb 2025 - Updated example sentences
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