momentarily

English

Etymology

momentary +‎ -ly.

Pronunciation
  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈməʊmɛntɛɹɪlɪi/

Adverb

momentarily (not comparable)

  1. In a momentary manner; for a moment or instant.
  2. (US, proscribed) In a moment or very soon; any minute now, any time now.
    • 1880, Lew Wallace, Ben-Hur, a Tale of the Christ, chapter 3.
      He told me, further, that the second coming was at hand--was looked for momentarily in Jerusalem.
    This plane will be landing at Idlewild Airport momentarily.
  3. Progressively; moment by moment.

Usage notes

Many speakers object to the use of momentarily in the sense of “in a moment” rather than “for a moment”, since this is inconsistent with the meaning of momentary;[1][2] nonetheless, this use is quite common in North America, and is particularly associated with airlines, such as “we will be landing momentarily”.[3][1][2] In place of momentarily, many speakers prefer the terms presently, soon[1][2] or the phrase “in a moment”,[2] for this sense of “in a moment”.

Synonyms

Translations

References
  1. “Just a Moment”, by William Safire, New York Times, May 11, 1997
  2. I Stand Corrected: More on Language, by William Safire pp. 137–138
  3. On language, by William Safire, 1980, p. 9
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