From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishtransienttran‧si‧ent1 /ˈtrænziənt $ ˈtrænʃənt/ adjective formal 1 SHORT TIMEcontinuing only for a short time transient fashions2 SHORT TIMEworking or staying somewhere for only a short time a transient population —transience noun [uncountable]
Examples from the Corpus
transient• With further respiratory tract infections there remains a tendency to impaired hearing, but this is transient.• They list possible side effects as mild to moderate and transient.• Elevations of serum transaminase are usually transient and dose-related, but occasionally can indicate severe hepatotoxicity.• The grandchild's more numerous social connections are shallower, more transient and imbued with less moral content than the grandfather's.• The cause is not transient but structural and deep-seated.• The transient nature of speech does not permit editing of the speech signal.• transient pleasures• Phoenix has a very transient population.• The essentially transient regime left behind little but resentment and destruction.• Once the transient sleep problem has passed, stop taking the sleeping pills.transienttransient2 noun [countable] American EnglishHOME someone who has no home and moves around from place to placeExamples from the Corpus
transient• He had been living as a transient in San Diego for several years before his arrest.• Farther along the street was a transient who was carrying his belongings in a plastic bag.• Empty houses attract drug users and transients.• The king decreed that anyone who attempted to feed or house the eighty-six-year-old transient would be punished for their efforts.• On Wednesday, Brown apologized for his outbursts and vowed to get tough on park transients.• In such petty ways some revenge was taken on the wealthy transient.From Longman Business Dictionarytransienttran‧si‧ent /ˈtrænziəntˈtrænʃənt/ adjective formal only lasting for a short period of timeCustomer loyalty in the health drinks market appears transient at the best of times.Origin transient1 (1500-1600) Latin present participle of transire “to go across”, from ire “to go” 