fugacious

F4U1G2A1C3I1O1U1S1
UK, US/fjuːˈɡeɪ.ʃəs/

adjective

Fleeting, fading quickly, transient.

Similar
ephemeralpassingshort-livedtransienttransitoryimpermanenttemporary
OriginLatin fugācius →
Scrabble 15
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Meanings

adjectivefugacious (comparative more fugacious, superlative most fugacious)

comparative more fugacious · superlative most fugacious

  1. Fleeting, fading quickly, transient.

    "[…

    1916, James Branch Cabell, The Certain Hour
    3 more examples

    Restless, shifting, fugacious as time itself is a certain vast bulk of the population of the red brick district of the lower West Side. Homeless, they have a hundred homes.

    1906 April, O. Henry [pseudonym; William Sydney Porter], “The Furnished Room”, in The Four Million, New York, N.Y.: McClure, Phillips & Co, →OCLC

    Watering of the eye, conjunctival congestion, distinct catarrhal conjunctivitis, and deep-seated scleral congestions, sometimes fugacious, and often accompanied by intense headache […]

    1916, George Edmund De Schweinitz, Diseases of the Eye, page 589

    It may be that Redford's fugacious nature is not so mysterious, that it is studded in the artwork of the labs and the very stones of Sundance.

    2011, Michael Feeney Callan, Robert Redford: The Biography, Alfred A. Knopf, →ISBN, page xvii

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectivelasting a very short time

Similar
ephemeralpassingshort-livedtransienttransitoryimpermanenttemporary
Also see
ephemeralfleetinginstantpassingshort-livedtemporarytransienttransitoryvolatile

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Latinfugācius
  2. Englishfugacious

Borrowed from Latin fugācius (whence -acious), comparative of fugāciter (“evasively, fleetingly”), from fugāx (“transitory, fleeting”), from fugiō (“to flee”).

More words from Latin

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian мимолетен, краткотраен
  • мимолетен (mimoleten)Fleeting, fading quickly, transient
  • краткотраен (kratkotraen)Fleeting, fading quickly, transient
Chinese Mandarin 易逃逸的, 難捕捉的 /难捕捉的
  • 易逃逸的 (yìtáoyì de)Fleeting, fading quickly, transient
  • 難捕捉的 /难捕捉的 (nánbǔzhuō de)Fleeting, fading quickly, transient
  • 無常的 /无常的 (wúcháng de)Fleeting, fading quickly, transient
Dutch vluchtig, vlietend
  • vluchtigFleeting, fading quickly, transient
  • vlietendFleeting, fading quickly, transient
Finnish katoavainen
  • katoavainenFleeting, fading quickly, transient
German flüchtig
  • flüchtigFleeting, fading quickly, transient
Japanese 早く散る, 儚い
  • 早く散る (hayaku chiru)Fleeting, fading quickly, transient
  • 儚い (hakanai)Fleeting, fading quickly, transient
Polish przejściowy, tymczasowy
  • przejściowyFleeting, fading quickly, transient
  • tymczasowyFleeting, fading quickly, transient
  • efemerycznyFleeting, fading quickly, transient
Portuguese fugaz
  • fugazFleeting, fading quickly, transient
Romanian trecător, efemer
  • trecătorFleeting, fading quickly, transient
  • efemerFleeting, fading quickly, transient
  • care zboarăFleeting, fading quickly, transient
Russian мимолётный, скороте́чный
  • мимолётный (mimoljótnyj)Fleeting, fading quickly, transient
  • скороте́чный (skorotéčnyj)Fleeting, fading quickly, transient
Spanish fugaz
  • fugazFleeting, fading quickly, transient
Swedish flyktig, förgänglig
  • flyktigFleeting, fading quickly, transient
  • förgängligFleeting, fading quickly, transient
Cite this entry
APA

fugacious. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fugacious

MLA

“fugacious.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fugacious. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “fugacious,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fugacious.

Source: fugacious on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.