Definitions

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

  • noun Half or partly permanent.

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

  • adjective Neither temporary nor entirely permanent; of indefinite duration

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

  • adjective relating to or extending over a relatively long time

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

semi- +‎ permanent

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Examples

  • The museum could define itself as a performance venue and build an audience for a kind of semipermanent Folklife Festival under its roof.

    How can the American Latino Museum best answer the call of the Mall? 2010

  • B" that proposed adding "semipermanent" members that would face reelection.

    Yahoo! News: Business - Opinion 2010

  • Greece would still be condemned to semipermanent austerity and recession.

    Hopes for Solution to Crisis Hang on ECB Alen Mattich 2011

  • His left eyebrow rises in a semipermanent arch, lending him an aspect of either surprise or skepticism when he speaks.

    The Listener 2010

  • In the months and years that followed, the Mormon church became a semipermanent part of life in Felony Flats.

    The Sins of Brother Curtis Lisa Davis 2011

  • In some cases they put them in a “state of semipermanent civil war”; the conflict in Vietnam, for example, lasted thirty years and resulted in huge human losses, devastation of the land, and aborted economic development.10 The negative effects still linger in many areas.

    Between War and Peace Col. Matthew Moten 2011

  • His latest product, Frizz-Ease 3-Day straight, is a semipermanent styling potion, for the lazy among us I'm including myself here, who don't want or need to wash their hair on a daily basis.

    The Taming of 'The Do' Tina Gaudoin 2011

  • His left eyebrow rises in a semipermanent arch, lending him an aspect of either surprise or skepticism when he speaks.

    The Listener 2010

  • In short, with the filibuster — a dubious tradition that encourages senators to act as spoilers rather than legislators, and that has locked the political system into semipermanent paralysis by ensuring that important decisions are endlessly deferred.

    Matthew Yglesias » I Was Right About Something! 2010

  • In short, with the filibuster — a dubious tradition that encourages senators to act as spoilers rather than legislators, and that has locked the political system into semipermanent paralysis by ensuring that important decisions are endlessly deferred.

    The Silenced Majority 2009

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