moving or passing by very swiftly; " fleeting clouds passing before the face of the moon"

lasting for a markedly brief time; " a fleeting glance"; " fugitive hours"; " rapid momentaneous association of things that meet and pass"; " a momentary glimpse"

of Fleet

Passing swiftly away; not durable; transient; transitory; as, the fleeting hours or moments.

Passing quickly; as, time is fleeting.

FLEETINGLY.

Transitory; not lasting.

Passing rapidly; transient.

Transient; passing rapidly.

Closed and twisted viciously, in the same fleeting instant. – Triplanetary by Edward Elmer Smith

Or the fleeting world of men? – Alcyone by Archibald Lampman

Than this a vain and fleeting world can grant thee no higher lesson." – By-Ways of Bombay by S. M. Edwardes, C.V.O.

She passed Max with a touch of the hand and a fleeting smile, and was gone. – The Keeper of the Door by Ethel M. Dell

The clear morning air made objects at a distance very distinct, and as Trevison had ridden past the car, Corrigan had seen a flutter at one of the windows; had caught a fleeting glimpse of Rosalind Benham's face. – 'Firebrand' Trevison by Charles Alden Seltzer

I felt a slight, a fleeting pressure of Seraphina's hand before it slipped out of mine; I thought, in the beating rush of blood to my temples, that I was going mad. – Romance by Joseph Conrad and F.M. Hueffer

" Well," said he, with that fierce and fleeting little smile which rarely lit his face for a second, " if you don't know him he knows you; he knows everybody." – The Man Who Knew by Edgar Wallace

The work must be done, too, according to the teacher's knowledge of the principles of evolution, and not merely out of regard to small and fleeting interests. – Education as Service by J. Krishnamurti

For an instant a fleeting shadow crossed the open lane leading out of the glade; then it vanished. – The Spirit of the Border A Romance of the Early Settlers in the Ohio Valley by Zane Grey

He thought of the young loving wife who had lived with him little more than for one fleeting year, and wondered whether she was looking down upon him from Heaven, and how her spirit would bear this accusation against the man upon whose bosom she had slept, and in whose arms she had gone to her long rest. – Phineas Redux by Anthony Trollope

When the tiger approaches can the fast- fleeting hind Repose trust in his footsteps of air? – The Complete Poetical Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley Volume III by Percy Bysshe Shelley Edited by Thomas Hutchinson, M. A.

For one fleeting instant Penny saw a girl only a little older than herself, standing half wrapped in the folds of the velvet curtain. – The Cry at Midnight by Mildred A. Wirt

The fleeting moment I enjoy; each cup Of pleasure as it comes I empty,- letting All else go on to ruin as it will. – Early Plays Catiline, The Warrior's Barrow, Olaf Liljekrans by Henrik Ibsen

" The fame of my king is not fleeting. – Berlin and Sans-Souci by Louise Muhlbach

But presently he gave a kind of shudder, the tension of his frame relaxed, and the soul which had been absorbed in its own visions, came forward to its windows, cast from them a fleeting glance, then dropped the curtains. – Thomas Wingfold, Curate by George MacDonald

In the walk back from Vadrome Mountain, a change- a fleeting change- had passed over Charley's mind and mood. – The Right of Way, Volume 5. by Gilbert Parker

Whether, deep down in her consciousness, she was aware of a fleeting sense of disappointment in Geoffrey, a swiftly passing thought that he had failed her, she could hardly have said, so quickly did she crush it down. – A Damsel in Distress by Pelham Grenville Wodehouse

A fleeting sense of humor succeeded- had he interfered between man and wife? – The Prodigal Judge by Vaughan Kester

For a fleeting moment the lad thought of the peril of his position. – The Boy Scout Fire Fighters by Irving Crump

This fleeting gaze fixed itself at last on the inner door. – Judith of the Cumberlands by Alice MacGowan