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transiency

transiency

8.4
A short time that something exists before it ends
  • noun
  • /ˈtrænsiənsi/
translation icon : transitoriedad
  • By 1920, stable jobs in hotels, with women as chambermaids and men as waiters, cooks, porters, and janitors, challenged the railroad, with its emphasis on transiency, as the major source of employment.

Examples

  • However, critics of increased adjunct faculty ask whether the transiency of adjunct faculty positions makes such faculty less inclined to spend time preparing lesson plans, grading papers, and exams for courses that they may never teach again (Bowles 1982).

    Academic text (2008)
  • Now, the transiency of life.

  • But the social distance between transiency and permanent residence was easily measurable and significant.

    Academic text (1998)
  • Where the larger society tolerated them, even encouraged them in the transiency of studenthood, it did not welcome them as permanent residents.

    Academic text (1990)
  • Many schools with low academic achievement scores, low attendance rates, and high transiency percentages have high rates of students eligible for free or reduced lunches, which researchers frequently use as a poverty indicator.

    Academic text (2002)
  • Although the transiency of adjunct instructors would make them less likely to invest a large amount of time preparing lesson plans, grading papers, and exams for courses they may never teach again, the percentage distributions of some classroom assessments mentioned above were similar to full-time instructors.

    Academic text (2008)
  • The transiency of summer vacations makes them feel even more special each year.

  • Her memories of childhood capture the transiency of those carefree days.

  • The artist's work often reflects the transiency of beauty and life.

Synonyms

impermanence
vstransiency
4 8.2

A state of not lasting forever and likely to change

adds a stronger sense that the end is unavoidable rather than just changeable
transience
vstransiency
2 8.1

A short time before something changes or ends

focuses more on temporary nature plus a sense of unavoidable ending
temporary state
vstransiency
1 3.5

A situation that lasts only for a short time

places more emphasis on the unavoidable end of that condition
fleetingness
vstransiency
1 8.2

A short time that passes quickly

means temporary too but stresses that ending is inevitable rather than just brief
ephemerality
vstransiency
1 8.9

A state of lasting only a short time, like a rainbow

conveys similar briefness but also highlights inevitable conclusion or death
transitoriness
vstransiency
1 9.2

The fact that something lasts only a short time

is the same idea but places extra weight on inevitable ending or death
impermanency
vstransiency
8.2

A temporary condition that does not last forever

adds a sense of inevitable ending beyond mere nonpermanence
temporariness
vstransiency
5.5

A state of lasting only a short time

suggests the same limited duration but with inevitability implied
ephemeralness
vstransiency
  • Specialized
9.1

The state of lasting only a short time

is similar in brevity but adds an element of unavoidable ending

Antonyms

77 3.4

Ability to keep doing hard physical or mental work for a long time

15 5.5

A situation where something lasts a long time without big change

How Temporary

ephemerality
1 8.9
transiency
8.4
durability
22 3.8
permanence
15 5.5

Surface Forms

transiency singular
transiencies plural

Morphology

transiency = transient (transparent) = transient + cy

Standard nominalization from the adjective 'transient' by adding '-cy' to denote the state or quality of being transient.

Etymology

Transiency comes from Latin parts trans- 'across' and ire 'to go', so it originally meant 'going across' or 'passing by'. You can see the same root in transit, so transiency means the state of being short-lived or quickly passing.