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temporary

adjective · noun

Simple meaning

lasting only for a short time, not forever

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

tehmperuhree

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US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈtɛmpɚɛɹi

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

adjective

  1. Not permanent; existing only for a period or periods of time.

  2. Existing only for a short time or short times; transient, ephemeral.

  3. Not permanent; not lasting

noun

  1. One serving for a limited time; a short-term employee, especially in an office.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B1 · Intermediate
Frequency
Common
Typical Use
Everyday English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: Not permanent; existing only for a period or periods of time.

Used this way, temporary is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
No strong connotation
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

Permanent / existing

temporary home

Worker

temporary basis

Other combinations

temporary relieftemporary storagetemporary naturetemporary losstemporary residencetemporary suspension

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Word family

Words built from the same root.

  • temporaladjectiveDerived adjective

    Related to Not permanent.

  • temporarilyadverbDerived adverb

    For a limited time only.

  • temporallyadverbDerived adverb

    With regard to temporal order.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • temporary expedientnounCompound term

    An unplanned expedient.

  • temporary hookupnounCompound term

    A connection intended to be used for a limited time.

  • temporary injunctionnounCompound term

    Injunction issued during a trial to maintain the status quo or preserve the subject matter of the litigation until the trial is over.

  • temporary removalnounCompound term

    A temporary debarment (from a privilege or position etc).

  • temporary workernounCompound term

    A worker (especially in an office) hired on a temporary basis.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

adjective

Sense: not permanent

transitory

noun

Sense: one serving for a limited time

transientephemeral

Antonyms

adjective

Sense: not permanent

permanent

noun

Sense: one serving for a limited time

lastingArchaic

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.