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Definition of "momentary" []

  • Lasting for only a moment. (adjective)
  • Occurring or present at every moment: in momentary fear of being exposed. (adjective)
  • Short-lived or ephemeral, as a life. (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "momentary" in a sentence
  • "Foley, who's openly gay, says he was molested by a priest as a child, leading him to addiction and what he calls a momentary lapse of judgment."
  • "Any Republican urge to negotiate a ‘least bad’ compromise with the Democrats, and thereby gain momentary public credit for helping the president ‘do something’ about health care, should also be resisted."
  • "Few clearer statements of the naturalistic paradox of joy in momentary and sensuous pleasure being clouded by a pall that shrouds even the happiest summits34 can be found in London's fiction than his summary of Fang's outlook at the moment of realization:"