fleeting
adj.adj. lasting for a very short time. You use this to describe things that disappear quickly, like a feeling or a look on someone's face.
adj. lasting for a very brief period; ephemeral or transient. Often used to describe abstract concepts like time, emotions, or glimpses.
I caught a fleeting glimpse of the deer before it ran away.
The politician's popularity proved to be fleeting once the economic crisis began to affect voters.
The poet captures the fleeting nature of youth, comparing it to the morning dew that vanishes as soon as the sun rises over the horizon.
From Middle English fleten (“to float”), from Old English flēotan (“to float”), from Proto-Germanic fleutaną, from Proto-Indo-European plewd-. By surface analysis, fleet + -ing.
Typically used attributively before a noun. Common collocations include 'fleeting moment', 'fleeting glimpse', and 'fleeting visit'.