Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The quality or state of being ephemeral; that which is ephemeral; a transient trifle.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun uncountable The state or condition of being ephemeral; transience.
  • noun countable Something that is ephemeral.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun the property of lasting for a very short time

Etymologies

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Examples

  • An object whose identity is so deeply intertwined with its documentation is fraught with complexities and paradox, but given Smithson's interest in ephemerality and entropy, I'd imagine he'd be quite satisfied with the transient nature of his jetty - how it disappears and reappears at nature's will.

    Rebecca Taylor: Spiral Jetty: A Monument to Paradox & Transience Rebecca Taylor 2010

  • The implicit immediacy and ephemerality of "post" and "update," the deeply embedded assumption of referentiality (linkage being part of the point of blogging), not to mention a new of-the-moment ethos among so many of the bloggers (especially the younger ones) favors a less formal, less linear, and essentially unedited mode of argument.

    Book Reviewing 2010

  • The demanding nature of its maintenance, the vulnerability of the material, the ephemerality of the piece does relate to themes of human frailty.

    Joan Sherman: Young Artists Look at Old Masters Joan Sherman 2011

  • The demanding nature of its maintenance, the vulnerability of the material, the ephemerality of the piece does relate to themes of human frailty.

    Joan Sherman: Young Artists Look at Old Masters Joan Sherman 2011

  • McMillen, by contrast, shrinks his subjects, usually down to toys, but sometimes to 2/3 size, tempting us with tactility and apparently easy heft just as Anderson tempts us with ephemerality and gigantism.

    Peter Frank: Blague d'Art: American Masters, American Dreams Peter Frank 2010

  • Questions were raised about Smithson's vision for the work, his view on its ephemerality, and whether he ever envisioned groups such as ours making the journey out to this incredibly remote location to experience his work.

    Rebecca Taylor: Spiral Jetty: A Monument to Paradox & Transience Rebecca Taylor 2010

  • For an experience of the un-nameable on a colossal scale, as well as snapshots of commonplace people, one comes here, to Mr. Eisenman's memorial, where the materiality of stone competes and cooperates with the ephemerality of language and names, and where at least some of the names achieve a permanence of their own.

    The Facelessness of Mass Destruction Willard Spiegelman 2011

  • McMillen, by contrast, shrinks his subjects, usually down to toys, but sometimes to 2/3 size, tempting us with tactility and apparently easy heft just as Anderson tempts us with ephemerality and gigantism.

    Peter Frank: Blague d'Art: American Masters, American Dreams Peter Frank 2010

  • Fluxus's embrace of lightness, transformation and ephemerality is evident in works ranging from documented meals to musician John Cale's film of flashing police lights.

    Making Art Out of Living Kristin M. Jones 2011

  • McMillen, by contrast, shrinks his subjects, usually down to toys, but sometimes to 2/3 size, tempting us with tactility and apparently easy heft just as Anderson tempts us with ephemerality and gigantism.

    Peter Frank: Blague d'Art: American Masters, American Dreams Peter Frank 2010

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