Standard Lemma guide

fugacious

adj · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • UK, US: /fjuːˈɡeɪ.ʃəs/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Fleeting, fading quickly, transient.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adjective satellite

Meaning 2

lasting a very short time

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • the ephemeral joys of childhood
  • a passing fancy
  • youth's transient beauty
  • love is transitory but it is eternal
  • fugacious blossoms

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: ephemeral, passing, short-lived, transient, transitory

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin fugācius (whence -acious), comparative of fugāciter (“evasively, fleetingly”), from fugāx (“transitory, fleeting”), from fugiō (“to flee”).

Across languages

Translations

26 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Armenian: վաղանցիկ (vaġancʻik) — Fleeting, fading quickly, transient
  • Armenian: կարճատեւ (karčatew) — Fleeting, fading quickly, transient
  • Armenian: անցողիկ (ancʻoġik) — Fleeting, fading quickly, transient
  • Bulgarian: мимолетен (mimoleten) — Fleeting, fading quickly, transient
  • Bulgarian: краткотраен (kratkotraen) — Fleeting, fading quickly, transient
  • Chinese Mandarin: 易逃逸的 (yìtáoyì de) — Fleeting, fading quickly, transient
  • Chinese Mandarin: 難捕捉的 /难捕捉的 (nánbǔzhuō de) — Fleeting, fading quickly, transient
  • Chinese Mandarin: 無常的 /无常的 (wúcháng de) — Fleeting, fading quickly, transient
  • Dutch: vluchtig — Fleeting, fading quickly, transient
  • Dutch: vlietend — Fleeting, fading quickly, transient
  • Finnish: katoavainen — Fleeting, fading quickly, transient
  • German: flüchtig — Fleeting, fading quickly, transient
  • Japanese: 早く散る (hayaku chiru) — Fleeting, fading quickly, transient
  • Japanese: 儚い (hakanai) — Fleeting, fading quickly, transient
  • Polish: przejściowy — Fleeting, fading quickly, transient
  • Polish: tymczasowy — Fleeting, fading quickly, transient
  • Polish: efemeryczny — Fleeting, fading quickly, transient
  • Portuguese: fugaz — Fleeting, fading quickly, transient
  • Romanian: trecător — Fleeting, fading quickly, transient
  • Romanian: efemer — Fleeting, fading quickly, transient
  • Romanian: care zboară — Fleeting, fading quickly, transient
  • Russian: мимолётный (mimoljótnyj) — Fleeting, fading quickly, transient
  • Russian: скороте́чный (skorotéčnyj) — Fleeting, fading quickly, transient
  • Spanish: fugaz — Fleeting, fading quickly, transient
  • Swedish: flyktig — Fleeting, fading quickly, transient
  • Swedish: förgänglig — Fleeting, fading quickly, transient