transient
adjective · noun
Simple meaning
Remaining for only a brief time.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
tranzhuhntSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈtɹænʒənt
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.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
adjective
Remaining for only a brief time.
Passing or disappearing with time; transitory.
Passing through; passing from one person to another.
Occasional; isolated; one-off
noun
One who stays for only a short time
A person who passes through a place for a short time; a traveller; a migrant worker.
A homeless person.
philippines
A homestay.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate (estimated)
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Remaining for only a brief time.
Used this way, transient 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.
More ways to use transient
- “Many transient workers only stay in town for a few months during harvest season.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Memory disorder seen in middle aged and elderly persons.
Brief episode in which the brain gets insufficient blood supply.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
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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.