#Use ephemeral in a sentence movie#

#Use ephemeral in a sentence movie#

Our game this month is 'A Vocabulary of Movie Quotes.'

Don’t go straight to the review now-let your working memory empty out first. Spend at least 20 seconds occupying your mind with the game below. You’ll know you understand what 'ephemera' means when you can explain it without saying 'odds and ends to use and then throw out' or 'stuff that quickly disappears.' try it out:įill in the blanks: '(Some fact, skill, piece of knowledge, feeling, desire, or memory) turned out to be ephemeral: I forgot it/them as soon as _.'Įxample: ' My nighttime worries about the problem turned out to be ephemeral: I forgot them as soon as I woke up and got to work on it.' before you review: Look away from the screen to explain the definition in your own words. Steve isn't necessarily chasing after ephemera like money or fame I think he's genuinely trying to create something that improves people's lives. examples:īecause I used to equate ephemera with the memories attached to them, I'd hold onto every note, letter, and movie ticket. When you use the adjective, 'ephemeral,' it's less likely that you'll talk literally about ephemeral fevers, insects, or flowers and more likely that you'll talk about ephemeral thoughts or impressions, ephemeral feelings or desires (like ephemeral loyalty, obsession, relief, or pride), ephemeral messages, ephemeral dreams or memories, ephemeral gains or victories, and so on. Of course, one man's ephemera is another man's treasure: you might hold onto some of yours forever ('a box of ephemera from their first year of marriage') or find some in a museum ('fishing ephemera,' 'cultural ephemera,' 'rock 'n' roll ephemera'). Often, ephemera are written materials and other things that we generally throw away after a while, like notes, receipts, greeting cards, magazines, and newspapers.īut ephemera can also be abstract things, like fashions and trends, approval and popularity, interest and engagement, knowledge and understanding, information and news bites, etc. So, what kinds of things can be ephemera?

The word 'ephemera' can take on any tone: happy, sad, wistful, accepting, or matter-of-fact.Īlthough 'ephemera' originally meant 'fevers that lasted for a day,' and although it later extended to mean 'insects and flowers that live for only a day,' this word has almost no lingering medical or biological flavor-we use it to describe anything short-lived or quickly disappearing, whether that's good, bad, or neutral. The adjective is 'ephemeral,' and the adverb is 'ephemerally.'įor the noun, you can pick between 'ephemerality' and 'ephemeralness.' I prefer 'ephemerality.' Likewise, talk about one ephemeron or multiple ephemera.)Īgain, the singular noun is 'ephemeron' (but it's rare) and the plural is 'ephemera.' You talk about 'a bottle,' 'three pieces,' and 'many decisions.' (Countable nouns, like 'bottle,' 'piece,' and 'decision,' are words for things that can be broken into exact units. An ephemeron is a single thing that lasts for a very short time, and to make that word plural, we don't write 'ephemerons' but rather 'ephemera.'Įphemera are things that last for a very short time. Something ephemeral lasts for a day, or for a short time.

This word comes from Greek roots for 'on a day.' (To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.) make your point with. We studied that word because it has a more useful general meaning: it describes whatever is dull and ordinary in an everyday kind of way. Something literally ephemeral, like a disease or the life of an insect or flower, lasts for only one day.Īnd something literally qu_ian, like a symptom of a disease, happens once each day.