short-lived

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See also: shortlived

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From short +‎ lived (“having a life, lifed”), equivalent to short +‎ life +‎ -ed. Compare Middle English short-livi, sort-levi (“short-lived”).

Pronunciation

  • (US) IPA(key): /ʃɔɹtˈlɪvd/, /ʃɔɹtˈlaɪvd/; see usage notes below
  • Audio (US)(file)

Adjective

short-lived (comparative shorter-lived, superlative shortest-lived)

  1. Alive or existent for only a short period of time.
    But his joy was short-lived, for his fortunes soon changed.
    • 1971, Dick Wilson, “Home and Dry in Shensi”, in The Long March 1935: The Epic of Chinese Communism's Survival‎, New York: Viking Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, →OL, page 227:
      At the end of 1927 the Communists were "purged" from the Kuomintang, and although in 1928 a short-lived soviet government had been proclaimed at Hsunyi, it was crushed by General Feng Yu-hsiang's pro-Nanking troops.
    • 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.
  2. Of a radioisotope (or by extension radioelement): having a short half-life.

Usage notes

  • 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.

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