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Instantaneous vs Fleeting - What's the difference?

instantaneous | fleeting |

As adjectives the difference between instantaneous and fleeting

is that instantaneous is occurring]], [[arise|arising, or functioning without any delay; happening within an imperceptibly brief period of time while fleeting is passing quickly.

As a verb fleeting is

.

instantaneous

English

Adjective

(-)
  • Occurring]], [[arise, arising, or functioning without any delay; happening within an imperceptibly brief period of time.
  • * 1631 , William Twisse, A discovery of D. Iacksons vanitie , ch. 6, p. 223,
    • This instantaneous motion is supposed by you, to be infinitely swift.
  • * 1766 , , The Vicar of Wakefield , ch. 14.
    • However, no lovers in romance ever cemented a more instantaneous friendship.
  • * 1813 , , Pride and Prejudice , ch. 57,
    • The colour now rushed into Elizabeth's cheeks in the instantaneous conviction of its being a letter from the nephew.
  • * 1907 , , The Secret Agent , ch. 4,
    • It's the principle of the pneumatic instantaneous shutter for a camera lens.
  • * 2007 , Spector jury given graphic account of actress 'murder' Times Online , London, 30 May (retrieved 13 July 2007),
    • He said that the bullet went through her head, severed her spine and death would have been almost instantaneous .

    Synonyms

    * instant

    Derived terms

    * instantaneously * instantaneity

    References

    * * * * * " instantaneous" in Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary (Cambridge University Press, 2007) * " instantaneous" in Compact Oxford English Dictionary , (Oxford University Press, 2007) * Oxford English Dictionary , second edition (1989) English words suffixed with -aneous

    fleeting

    English

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Passing quickly.
  • * 1931 , Martha Kinross, "The Screen — From This Side", The Fortnightly , Volume 130, page 511:
    • Architecture, sculpture, painting are static arts. Even in literature "our flying minds," as George Meredith says, cannot contain protracted description. It is so; for from sequences of words they must assemble all the details in one simultaneous impression. But moments of fleeting beauty too transient to be caught by any means less swift than light itself are registered on the screen.
  • * 2003 , Gabrielle Walker, Snowball Earth: The Story of a Maverick Scientist and His Theory of the Global Catastrophe That Spawned Life As We Know It , Three Rivers Press (2003), ISBN 1400051258, pages 34-35:
    • During the fleeting summer months of his field season, when the outer vestiges of winter melted briefly, there were ponds and pools and lakes of water everywhere.
  • * 2008 , Barbara L. Bellman & Susan Goldstein, Flirting After Fifty: Lessons for Grown-Up Women on How to Find Love Again , iUniverse (2008), ISBN 9780595428281, page 12:
    • For starters, we see examples all the time of some middle-aged men trying to hang onto their own fleeting youth by sporting younger women on their arms.
  • * 2010 , Leslie Ludy, The Lost Art of True Beauty: The Set-Apart Girl's Guide to Feminine Grace , Harvest House Publishers (2010), ISBN 9780736922906, page 5:
    • And I am inspired afresh to pursue the stunning beauty of Christ rather than the fleeting beauty of this world.

    Synonyms

    * ephemeral * See also .

    Verb

    (head)