fugacious

/fjuːˈɡeɪ.ʃəs/

//fjuːˈɡeɪ.ʃəs// adj

"fugacious" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“fugacious” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
9
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Fleeting, fading quickly, transient.

Corpus desk

Index EN-fugacious · fugacious · English

fugacious · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "F" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for fugacious
PropertyValue
Headwordfugacious
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/fjuːˈɡeɪ.ʃəs/
Letters9
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “fugacious” in English

fugaciousranks outside the top 100,000 English headwords, in the long tail of specialist, archaic, or seldom-used vocabulary, exactly the territory where a reader stops mid-sentence to double-check spelling.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

fugacious is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anadjective, transcribed /fjuːˈɡeɪ.ʃəs/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Fleeting, fading quickly, transient.".

No generated misspelling entries exist for fugacious in our index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Latin fugācius, comparative of fugāciter (“evasively, fleetingly”), from fugāx (“transitory, fleeting”), from fugiō (“I flee”). The correct English form is fugacious, spelled F-U-G-A-C-I-O-U-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    Fleeting, fading quickly, transient.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how fugacious appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Restless, shifting, fugacious as time itself is a certain vast bulk of the population of the red brick district of the lower West Side. Homeless, they have a hundred homes.
  2. Watering of the eye, conjunctival congestion, distinct catarrhal conjunctivitis, and deep-seated scleral congestions, sometimes fugacious, and often accompanied by intense headache […]

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin fugācius, comparative of fugāciter (“evasively, fleetingly”), from fugāx (“transitory, fleeting”), from fugiō (“I flee”).

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "fugacious"?
"fugacious" is spelled F-U-G-A-C-I-O-U-S. The IPA pronunciation is /fjuːˈɡeɪ.ʃəs/.
What does "fugacious" mean?
As an adjective, "fugacious" means: Fleeting, fading quickly, transient.
How do you pronounce "fugacious"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "fugacious" is /fjuːˈɡeɪ.ʃəs/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "fugacious"?
Borrowed from Latin fugācius, comparative of fugāciter (“evasively, fleetingly”), from fugāx (“transitory, fleeting”), from fugiō (“I flee”). See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list