Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Lasting, used, serving, or enjoyed for a limited time.
- n. Informal One that serves for a limited time: an office staffed by temporaries.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Lasting for a time only; existing or continuing for a limited time; not permanent.
- Contemporary; of the period.
Wiktionary
- adj. For a limited time, ephemeral, not constant; transient
- n. One serving for a limited time; short-term employee.
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. Lasting for a time only; existing or continuing for a limited time; not permanent.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a worker (especially in an office) hired on a temporary basis
- adj. lacking continuity or regularity
- adj. not permanent; not lasting
Etymologies
- From Latin temporarius, from tempus ("time") (Wiktionary)
- Latin temporārius, from tempus, tempor-, time. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“V. i.145 (125,6) [nor a temporary medler] It is hard to know what is meant by a _temporary_ medler.”
“And "trumpery insanity" was a popular catchphrase in the late 1800s, when the expression "temporary insanity" was much in use.”
“We are concerned that President Obama offers only short term temporary tax relief for small businesses but still suggests future higher marginal tax rates for successful small businesses, our job creators, says Caroline Harris, chief tax counsel for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.”
“Zhou Xiaochuan said China will eventually move away from its current exchange-rate policies, which he described as a temporary response to the global financial crisis.”
The Wall Street Journal: China Signals Defiance on U.S. Relations
“Zhou Xiaochuan said China will eventually move away from its current exchange-rate policies, which he described as a temporary response to the global financial crisis, but downplayed the idea that a move could come in the near future.”
“Zhou Xiaochuan said China will eventually move away from its current exchange-rate policies, which he described as a temporary response to the global financial crisis, but played down the idea that a move could come in the near future.”
The Wall Street Journal: China Signals Defiance on U.S. Relations
“Zhou Xiaochuan said China would eventually move away from its current exchange rate policies, which he described as a temporary response to the global financial crisis, but he gave no timetable.”
“We're talking about what they call temporary government programs.”
“He spent $230 million to purchase, gut and renovate the 300-room, 60-suite hotel, and went ahead with the grand opening so not to appear to respond to what he calls a temporary downturn.”
The Wall Street Journal: Los Angeles Luxury Hotels Hope the Downturn Skips Hollywood
“Years ago I saw someone label temporary-contraception access for teen girls as genocide against his community.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘temporary’.
-
EN - academic vocabulary
Use these and get promoted
abandon, abandonment, abnormally, abstract, abstraction, abstractly, abstracts, academia, academic, academically, academics, academies and 3119 more...
-
EU Buzz - Lisbon Treaty
All words of the Lisbon Treaty
(Persons' names, foreign and grammatical words have been eliminated, MWEs have been split up into individual words. Capitalization has been retained if r...health, follow, condition, meeting, minister, beginning, chapter, information, language, remain, covered, respect and 2614 more...
-
Time
clock, forever, never, ever, ago, when, then, now, past, present, future, timeline and 119 more...
-
EU Buzz - single words (1+2+3)
1. Strictly EU terms with special European meaning used only in the EU
+
2. Keywords central to the understanding of the EU (people working for the EU are usually able to give thematic...acceleration, action, additionality, administrator, agenda, agricultural, agri-environmental, agriflation, agri-food, applicant, approach, assent and 1325 more...
-
big book gre
abase, abbess, abbey, abbot, abdicate, abdomen, abdominal, abduction, abed, aberration, abet, abeyance and 6691 more...
-
The Sog Collection
My big word list.
chaos, flaccid, empirical, flotsam, cacophony, grumble, assuage, awe, romance, mortality, coalesce, fortuitous and 3282 more...
-
spazgirl's words
dilettante, elegy, derelict, evince, solicitous, shibboleth, exculpate, karma, animadversion, arrogate, effrontery, grouse and 114 more...
-
ESL Academic Word List
This is a list of academic words for students learning English as a Second or Foreign Language. It includes 570 word families that often appear in academic texts. It does not include words that are...
collapse, depression, colleagues, invoked, levy, nonetheless, likewise, so-called, ongoing, conceived, forthcoming, integrity and 558 more...
-
Basic English Vocabulary
Very basic words for ESL students.
a, abandon, ability, able, abortion, about, above, abroad, absence, absolute, absolutely, absorb and 4334 more...
-
That's right, another list
muck-a-muck, ipse dixit, solipsism, anticlinal, analogical, amoral, alogical, synclinal, disinclined, iconological, studly, flitch and 179 more...
-
English 090 - Unit 5: Ecotourism
This list consists of new vocabulary words included in the two readings of Unit 5: Ecotourism.
ecology, tourism, continent, coastal, consequences, fragile, harsh, inhabit, landscape, preserve, remote, research and 11 more...
-
Ephemeral
Words related to ephemeral.
evanescent, fugacious, ephemeral, transitory, impermanent, temporary, transient, short-lived, ephemerous, ephemeric
Tweets
Looking for tweets for temporary.

bilby "There's nothing so permanent as a temporary government program."
- Milton Friedman. Oct 22, 2008