momentary
/ˈməʊm(ə)nt(ə)ri
/adjective
Lasting for a very short time; brief: a momentary lapse of concentration...
- It may have been due to her diabetes or a momentary lapse of concentration that she drifted across the road.
- Occasionally he tapped the ash, a momentary pause in the almost mechanical rhythm of the smoking.
- In any event, she was charming in the face of my momentary lapse in speech.
Synonyms
brief, short, short-lived, quick, fleeting, passing, transient, transitory, ephemeral, evanescent, fugitive, temporary, impermanent
rare fugacious
Derivatives
momentariness
/ noun ...- The thesis of the momentariness of human existence has had a recent defender in Derek Parfit.
- Despite their momentariness within the whole work, it is probable that a late 15 th-century audience familiar with the chanson would have found these quotations striking.
- Despite the extreme artificiality and banality of this Hollywood equation, he manages to convey some of the charged momentariness of a real-life encounter.
Origin
Late Middle English: from Latin momentarius, from momentum (see moment).