fleetingly
fleetingly — 副詞
1. for an extremely short period, so briefly that something is almost not noticed —
短暫地；瞬間
極短時間地，幾乎無法留意
for an extremely short period, so briefly that something is almost not noticed — used when describing a moment, feeling, sight, or thought that passes so fast it barely registers.
Darius smiled fleetingly when he heard his daughter's laugh across the playground.
Darius 聽到女兒在操場那頭的笑聲時，短暫地笑了一下。
sentence adverb modifying a verb of perception
The face of an old friend appeared fleetingly in the crowd before the train pulled away.
一位老朋友的臉在人群中瞬間掠過，然後火車就開走了。
position after the verb for brief duration
A fleetingly warm breeze passed through the kitchen window and then was gone.
一陣短暫的暖風吹過廚房窗戶，然後就消失了。
Talia thought fleetingly about the job offer in Berlin before deciding to stay in Taipei.
Talia 短暫地考慮了一下柏林的工作機會，最後決定留在台北。
The sun shone fleetingly through the clouds during the afternoon walk.
下午散步時，陽光短暫地穿過雲層照了下來。
- briefly
the most common neutral alternative — 'briefly' can describe any short duration (seconds to years); 'fleetingly' is reserved for moments barely long enough to register.
- momentarily
suggests a literal moment or instant; more formal than 'fleetingly' and more precise about time.
- transiently
more formal and technical; describes phenomena that pass through a system or state rather than a personal perception.
- permanently
the direct opposite — lasting forever rather than a fraction of a second.
- endlessly
emphasises no end at all, contrasting with the instant quality of 'fleetingly'.
文法句型
fleetingly + verb phrase
用法筆記
Typically placed immediately before or after the main verb. Cannot be used with continuous states — a 'fleetingly known person' or 'fleetingly owned house' sounds unnatural because the adverb implies a momentary perception, not a lasting condition.