not lasting, enduring, or permanent; transitory.

lasting only a short time; existing briefly; temporary

transient authority.

staying only a short time

the transient guests at a hotel.

Philosophy . transeunt.

a person or thing that is transient, esp. a temporary guest, boarder, laborer, or the like.

Mathematics .

a function that tends to zero as the independent variable tends to infinity.

a solution, esp. of a differential equation, having this property.

Physics .

a nonperiodic signal of short duration.

a decaying signal, wave, or oscillation.

Electricity . a sudden pulse of voltage or current.

adjective

enduring , lasting , permanent

adjective

brief , changeable , deciduous , emigrating , ephemeral , evanescent , flash , fleeting , flitting , fly-by-night , flying , fugacious , fugitive , going by , impermanent , insubstantial , migrating , momentary , moving , passing , provisional , short , short-lived , short-term , temporal , transitory , transmigratory , unstable , vacating , volatilenotes:transient means brief or fleeting and usually applies to people; transitory means the same thing but usually applies to events , fleet , temporary , change , conveyance , ephemerous , flighty , guest , itinerant , migratory , passage , traveler , volatile