temporary
- 01 B1 Intermediate
adj.lasting for only a limited time.
adj.lasting for a limited period; not intended to be permanent or enduring.
Simple“The city set up temporary housing for people after the flood.”
In context“The government implemented temporary measures to stabilise the economy while the long-term structural reforms were being debated in parliament.”
Synonyms - 02 B2 Upper Intermediate
n.a person who is hired to work for a short time, often through an agency.
n.an employee hired for a limited duration, typically to cover for an absent staff member or during peak periods.
Simple“We hired a temporary to help with the extra paperwork this month.”
In context“The agency sent a temporary to manage the reception desk while the regular administrative assistant was on maternity leave.”
UsageOften shortened to 'temp' in casual office conversation.
SynonymsAntonyms - 03 C1 Advanced
n.a variable used in computer code to hold a value for a very short time.
n.a short-term variable used to store an intermediate result during a calculation or process.
Simple“The program stores the user's name in a temporary before saving it to the database.”
In context“The algorithm creates a temporary to hold the swap value, ensuring that no data is lost during the sorting process.”
UsageFrequently used as a noun in technical documentation.
Synonymstemp variablebuffer
Usage temporary accommodation · temporary shelters · temporary ban
“Hospital staff moved equipment outdoors, including beds, IV stands and oxygen cylinders, and set up temporary treatment areas to adapt to emergency conditions.”
“We are currently designing a temporary route that will become the final route in the next stages,” the minister said.”
Borrowed from Latin temporarius, from tempus (“time”).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.