Fugacious
adjective /fjuːˈɡeɪ.ʃəs/ — Fleeting; tending to disappear
Definition
Fleeting and transitory — inclined to disappear without warning. The rare word for the quality of things that will not stay.
Beyond the definition
The most extreme word for what does not last. Fugacious is rarer and more specific than ephemeral — it carries the sense of something that flees, as if aware of its own impermanence.
Origin & history
From Latin 'fugax' (fleeing, apt to flee) — from 'fugere' (to flee). The same root as 'fugitive', 'refuge', and 'fugue'. The world for things that run.
Example sentences
Illustrative sentences for learning, not verified community posts or sourced quotations.
The pleasure was fugacious — and knowing it would not last made it both sweeter and harder to enjoy.
Happiness, of the intense kind, is fugacious. It cannot bear too much attention.
In botany, 'fugacious' describes petals that fall within hours of opening — beauty scheduled from the start to disappear.
How to use it
This entry uses an adjective. Follow the examples for the nouns it describes and its position in the sentence.
Choose “Fugacious” when the meaning fits your context: Fleeting and transitory — inclined to disappear without warning. The rare word for the quality of things that will not stay.
Synonyms
fleeting, transient, evanescent, ephemeral, momentary
Antonyms
permanent, enduring, lasting
Related words
Word in the Wild
See how this word appears in life, language and stories.
Illustrative sentences and imagined stories for learning — not verified sightings, interviews, or sourced quotations.
Illustrative example
Shifting School of Sharks
A school of hammerhead sharks swims quickly through open water, moving as a single, shifting, transient entity.
The rapid and unpredictable movement of the sharks serves as a metaphor for things that are fleeting and transitory, disappearing without warning from one's view.
Image credit: Clark Anderson/Aquaimages ( Aquaimages at English Wikipedia ) · CC BY-SA 2.5 (license)
Resized and converted to WebP; displayed with a fitted crop.
Questions about this word
What does "Fugacious" mean?
Fugacious is adjective meaning: Fleeting; tending to disappear. Fleeting and transitory — inclined to disappear without warning. The rare word for the quality of things that will not stay.
Where does the word "Fugacious" come from?
From Latin 'fugax' (fleeing, apt to flee) — from 'fugere' (to flee). The same root as 'fugitive', 'refuge', and 'fugue'. The world for things that run.