Meanings
adjectivetemporary (comparative more temporary, superlative most temporary)
comparative more temporary · superlative most temporary · alternative obsolete tempory
- Not permanent; existing only for a period or periods of time.
Sally was put in temporary charge of the department while they searched for a full-time replacement.
Synonyms: temporal, impermanent · Antonyms: eternal, unending, neverending
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveNot permanent; existing only for a period or periods of time.
Similar
Opposite
adjectiveExisting only for a short time or short times.
nounOne serving for a limited time; a short-term employee, especially in an office.
nounA short-term variable used to store an intermediate result.
Similar
Similar
More synonyms by meaning
adjectivenot permanent; not lasting
Also see
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latintemporarius
- Englishtemporary
Borrowed from Latin temporarius, from tempus (“time”).
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek πρόσκαιρος
- πρόσκαιρος (próskairos)for a limited time, ephemeral, not constant
Arabic مُؤَقَّت
- مُؤَقَّت (muʔaqqat)for a limited time, ephemeral, not constant
Bulgarian вре́менен
- вре́менен (vrémenen)for a limited time, ephemeral, not constant
Catalan temporal, temporani
- temporalfor a limited time, ephemeral, not constant
- temporanifor a limited time, ephemeral, not constant
- eventualshort-term employee
Chinese Mandarin 暫時 /暂时, 臨時工 /临时工
- 暫時 /暂时 (zànshí, zhànshí, zǎnshí)for a limited time, ephemeral, not constant
- 臨時工 /临时工 (línshígōng)short-term employee
- 臨時雇員 /临时雇员 (línshí gùyuán)short-term employee
Czech dočasný
- dočasnýfor a limited time, ephemeral, not constant
Danish midlertidig, vikar
- midlertidigfor a limited time, ephemeral, not constant
- vikarshort-term employee
Dutch tijdelijk
- tijdelijkfor a limited time, ephemeral, not constant
Esperanto efemera, iama
- efemerafor a limited time, ephemeral, not constant
- iamafor a limited time, ephemeral, not constant
Finnish väliaikainen, ohimenevä
- väliaikainenfor a limited time, ephemeral, not constant
- ohimeneväfor a limited time, ephemeral, not constant
- hetkellinenfor a limited time, ephemeral, not constant
- määräaikainenfor a limited time, ephemeral, not constant
- määräaikainen työntekijäshort-term employee
French temporaire, provisoire
- temporairefor a limited time, ephemeral, not constant
- provisoirefor a limited time, ephemeral, not constant
- intérimaireshort-term employee
German zeitweilig, temporär
- zeitweiligfor a limited time, ephemeral, not constant
- temporärfor a limited time, ephemeral, not constant
- vorübergehendfor a limited time, ephemeral, not constant
- Zeitarbeitskraftshort-term employee
Greek προσωρινός
- προσωρινός (prosorinós)for a limited time, ephemeral, not constant
Hindi अस्थायी
- अस्थायी (asthāyī)for a limited time, ephemeral, not constant
Hungarian ideiglenes, átmeneti
- ideiglenesfor a limited time, ephemeral, not constant
- átmenetifor a limited time, ephemeral, not constant
Italian temporaneo
- temporaneofor a limited time, ephemeral, not constant
Japanese 暫くの, 暫時の
- 暫くの (shibaraku no)for a limited time, ephemeral, not constant
- 暫時の (zanji no)for a limited time, ephemeral, not constant
- 一時的な (ichijiteki na)for a limited time, ephemeral, not constant
Korean 일시적인
- 일시적인 (ilsijeog-in)for a limited time, ephemeral, not constant
Latin temporālis, temporārius
- temporālisfor a limited time, ephemeral, not constant
- temporāriusfor a limited time, ephemeral, not constant
Māori rangitahi, taupua
- rangitahifor a limited time, ephemeral, not constant
- taupuafor a limited time, ephemeral, not constant
Norwegian Bokmål midlertidig
- midlertidigfor a limited time, ephemeral, not constant
Persian زمانهور
- زمانهور (zamānevar)for a limited time, ephemeral, not constant
Polish tymczasowy krótkoczasowy, krótkotrwały
- tymczasowy krótkoczasowyfor a limited time, ephemeral, not constant
- krótkotrwałyfor a limited time, ephemeral, not constant
Portuguese temporário
- temporáriofor a limited time, ephemeral, not constant
Romanian temporar, interimat
- temporarfor a limited time, ephemeral, not constant
- interimatshort-term employee
Russian вре́менный, вре́менный рабо́тник
- вре́менный (vrémennyj)for a limited time, ephemeral, not constant
- вре́менный рабо́тник (vrémennyj rabótnik)short-term employee
- вре́менный сотру́дник (vrémennyj sotrúdnik)short-term employee
- вре́менная рабо́тница (vrémennaja rabótnica)short-term employee
- вре́менная сотру́дница (vrémennaja sotrúdnica)short-term employee
Scottish Gaelic sealach
- sealachfor a limited time, ephemeral, not constant
Slovak dočasný
- dočasnýfor a limited time, ephemeral, not constant
Spanish temporario, temporáneo
- temporariofor a limited time, ephemeral, not constant
- temporáneofor a limited time, ephemeral, not constant
- temporerofor a limited time, ephemeral, not constant
- temporeroshort-term employee
- temporalshort-term employee
Swedish tillfällig, temporär
- tillfälligfor a limited time, ephemeral, not constant
- temporärfor a limited time, ephemeral, not constant
Tagalog pansamantala
- pansamantalafor a limited time, ephemeral, not constant
Turkish geçici
- geçicifor a limited time, ephemeral, not constant
Ukrainian тимчасо́вий, пли́нний
- тимчасо́вий (tymčasóvyj)for a limited time, ephemeral, not constant
- пли́нний (plýnnyj)for a limited time, ephemeral, not constant
Vietnamese tạm thời, lâm thời
- tạm thờifor a limited time, ephemeral, not constant
- lâm thờifor a limited time, ephemeral, not constant
Welsh dros dro
- dros drofor a limited time, ephemeral, not constant
Cite this entry
APA
temporary. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/temporary
MLA
“temporary.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/temporary. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “temporary,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/temporary.
Source: temporary on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.