Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Lasting for only a moment.
  • adjective Occurring or present at every moment.
  • adjective Short-lived or ephemeral, as a life.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Lasting but a moment or for a very short time; of short duration: as, a momentary pang.
  • Short-lived; likely to die soon or at any moment.
  • Occurring every moment: as, momentary interruptions.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Done in a moment; continuing only a moment; lasting a very short time.

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

  • adjective Lasting for only a moment.
  • adjective Happening at every moment; perpetual.
  • adjective Ephemeral or relatively short-lived.

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

  • adjective lasting for a markedly brief time

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English momentare, from Latin mōmentārius, from mōmentum, moment; see moment.]

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Examples

  • Foley, who's openly gay, says he was molested by a priest as a child, leading him to addiction and what he calls a momentary lapse of judgment.

    CNN Transcript Nov 12, 2008 2008

  • But the smaller branch of the two composing the fork broke, and Michael fell to the ground, landing in momentary confusion on his head and shoulders.

    CHAPTER XXXVI 2010

  • Any Republican urge to negotiate a ‘least bad’ compromise with the Democrats, and thereby gain momentary public credit for helping the president ‘do something’ about health care, should also be resisted.

    The Medical is Political « PubliCola 2010

  • Few clearer statements of the naturalistic paradox of joy in momentary and sensuous pleasure being clouded by a pall that shrouds even the happiest summits34 can be found in London's fiction than his summary of Fang's outlook at the moment of realization:

    Le Milieu, Le Moment, La Race: Literary Naturalism in Jack London's White Fang 2010

  • Suffice to say it was a much more dangerous and miserable version of the above story (imagine seven-year-old crack addicts), but ultimately became an exercise in momentary transcendence.

    Archive 2007-09-01 Heather McDougal 2007

  • Suffice to say it was a much more dangerous and miserable version of the above story (imagine seven-year-old crack addicts), but ultimately became an exercise in momentary transcendence.

    Vik Muniz: Thinking Artist Heather McDougal 2007

  • Michael fell to the ground, landing in momentary confusion on his head and shoulders.

    Chapter 36 1917

  • Sometimes, in momentary reaction from the pent-up feelings of indignation and revolt, which were chronic with me during my imprisonments, I could have laughed out loud at the imbecility and pathos of human fallibility, that civilised (?) educated beings could continue such processes by way of ridding themselves from the dangers and active harmfulness of crime.

    Prisons and Prisoners: Some Personal Experiences 1914

  • There was Pitapat flitting about the bed in momentary danger of looking under it!

    The Hidden Hand 1888

  • My dear friend, you are in momentary danger of losing this soul of such priceless value.

    The Value of the Soul. E. S. Taylor 1865

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