as in transience
the state or quality of lasting only for a short time
the ancient Roman ruins are a telling reminder of the impermanence of even the grandest man-made constructions
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Recent Examples of impermanence
The structure explores Denes’ lifelong exploration of pyramids merged with nature’s impermanence, using native plants that grow and decay over time.
—
Rana Good, Forbes.com, 25 Apr. 2025
It was made of sandalwood, which Buddhists believe is a reminder of the impermanence of life.
—Sui-Lee Wee, New York Times, 11 Apr. 2025
Buddhism teaches impermanence as a path to compassion and non-attachment.
—Greg Orme, Forbes.com, 2 Apr. 2025
Bringing this piece to the Bangkok Experimental Film Festival is important because this city, this region, understands impermanence.
—Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 22 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for impermanence
Rana Good, Forbes.com, 25 Apr. 2025
It was made of sandalwood, which Buddhists believe is a reminder of the impermanence of life.
—Sui-Lee Wee, New York Times, 11 Apr. 2025
Buddhism teaches impermanence as a path to compassion and non-attachment.
—Greg Orme, Forbes.com, 2 Apr. 2025
Bringing this piece to the Bangkok Experimental Film Festival is important because this city, this region, understands impermanence.
—Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 22 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for impermanence
Recent Examples of Synonyms for impermanence
Noun
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Fallen blossoms whisper on the damp earth, a fleeting poem of transience.—
Saman Shafiq,
USA Today,
1 May 2025
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While these two exhibits may feel distinct, for Suh, all of his work interrogates the boundaries between personal and public space, and the conditions that force transience or enable permanence.—
Megan Williams,
CNN Money,
1 May 2025
Noun
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Flowers are often emblems of ephemerality and mortality, as in the vanitas paintings so common in 17th-century Europe, where elaborate bouquets were often paired with skulls, fruit, and other reminders that blooming and decaying, life and death, are inseparable.—
Rebecca Solnit
October 19,
Literary Hub,
19 Oct. 2021
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Mohammadi works with materials that disintegrate, for instance halva, soap, letting their ephemerality echo the fragility of memory.—
Nargess Banks,
Forbes.com,
26 May 2025
Noun
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But transiency in the back of the bullpen extends well beyond Woodward’s arrival.—
Dallas News,
Dallas News,
27 July 2022
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The council will hold a workshop outlining strategies and efforts to remedy homelessness and transiency in the city.—
Laura Groch,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
28 Feb. 2021
Noun
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To explain why a gag is funny is to crush its soufflé evanescence.—
Stephanie Zacharek,
TIME,
19 Mar. 2025
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The Stranger with its exploration of another facet of exile and belonging, this time set on a flood-prone German island that exists in a perpetual struggle between evanescence and permanence.—
Jay D. Weissberg,
Deadline,
19 Feb. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Impermanence.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/impermanence. Accessed 13 Jun. 2025.
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