short-lived
See also: shortlived
EnglishEdit
Alternative formsEdit
EtymologyEdit
From short + lived (“having a life, lifed”), equivalent to short + life + -ed. Compare Middle English short-livi, sort-levi (“short-lived”).
PronunciationEdit
AdjectiveEdit
short-lived (comparative shorter-lived, superlative shortest-lived)
- Alive or existent for only a short period of time.
- But his joy was short-lived, for his fortunes soon changed.
- 2021 August 11, Richard Foster, “A century of railway politics”, in RAIL, number 937, page 42:
- Did you know?
The London & North Western that became part of the LMS actually consisted of the older LNWR and the Lancashire & Yorkshire. Their merger came into effect on January 1 1922 to create the biggest but most short-lived "pre-Grouping' company.
Usage notesEdit
- The pronunciation /ʃɔɹtˈlaɪvd/ (the second syllable rhyming with hived) is more consistent with the etymology (since the term comes from the noun life rather than the verb live), and was formerly more common; however, the pronunciation /ʃɔɹtˈlɪvd/ (the second syllable pronounced as the verb lived) is more common today.
SynonymsEdit
- See also Thesaurus:ephemeral
AntonymsEdit
Related termsEdit
TranslationsEdit
not existent for very long
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