What is the difference between transient and transitory?
Top answer
Both words are similar in that they refer to the quality of being brief. He was a transient visitor. (He came one day and was gone the next).
— Doctor D
Both words are similar in that they refer to the quality of being brief.
He was a transient visitor.
(He came one day and was gone the next).
Her local fame was all too transitory.
) The usual distinction is that "transient" refers to what is actually short in duration, while "transitory" refers to what is by its nature bound to change or come to an end.
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