† meteorousadj.
Obsolete.
Of the nature of or resembling a meteor (in various senses); of or relating to atmospheric or meteorological phenomena; meteoric.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > rate of motion > swiftness > [adjective]
swiftc888
swifta1050
currentc1300
quickc1300
hastivea1325
hastyc1330
ingnel1340
swiftyc1380
speedfula1387
fasta1400
swippingc1420
speedy1487
fleet1528
tite?a1540
scudding1545
flighty1552
suddenly1556
flight1581
feathered1587
Pegasean1590
wing-footed1591
swift-winged?1592
thought-swift-flying1595
wind-winged?1596
swallow-winged1597
Pegasarian1607
skelping1607
rapid1608
night-swifta1616
celerious1632
clipping1635
perniciousa1656
volatile1655
quick-foot1658
meteorous1667
windy1697
high-flying1710
fleet-footed1726
aliped1727
wickc1760
velocious1775
flight-performing1785
fast-going1800
fast-moving1802
meteor1803
wight-wapping1830
fleety1841
speeding1847
swiftening1848
two-forty1855
fire-swift1865
pennate1870
spinning1882
percursory1884
zippy1889
meteoric1895
pacy1906
presto1952
the world > the universe > constellation > comet or meteor > meteor > [adjective]
meteorical1649
meteorous1667
meteoric1785
meteoritical1939
the world > time > duration > shortness or brevity in time > swift movement of time > [adjective]
slidinga900
scrithingOE
henwardOE
swifta1225
short livya1325
passing1340
flittingc1374
shadowy1374
temporalc1384
speedfula1400
transitory?c1400
brittlea1425
unabidingc1430
frail?c1450
indurablec1450
scrithel?c1475
caduke1483
transitorious1492
passanta1500
perishinga1500
caducea1513
fugitive?1518
caducal?1548
quick1548
delible1549
flittering1549
undurable?1555
shadowish1561
fleeting1563
vading1566
flightful1571
wanzing1571
transitive1575
slipping1581
diary1583
unlasting1585
never-lasting1588
flit1590
post-like1594
running1598
short-lived1598
short-winded1598
transient1599
unpermanent1607
flashy1609
of a day1612
passable1613
dureless1614
urgenta1616
waxena1616
decayable1617
horary1620
evanid1626
fugitable1628
short-dated1632
fugacious1635
ephemerala1639
impermanent1653
fungous1655
volatile1655
ephemerousa1660
unimmortal1667
timesome1674
while-being1674
of passage1680
journal1685
ephemeron1714
admovent1727
evanescent1728
meteorous1750
deciduous1763
preterient1786
ephemeridal1795
meteorica1802
meteor1803
ephemerean1804
ephemerid1804
evanescing1805
fleeted1810
fleet1812
unenduring1814
unremaining1817
unimmortalized1839
impersistent1849
flighty1850
uneternal1862
caducous1863
diurnal1866
horarious1866
brisk1879
evasive1881
picaresque1959
the world > matter > light > naturally occurring light > [adjective] > of or relating to starlight or bright as the stars > flashing like a meteor
meteorous1750
meteorica1802
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost xii. 629 Gliding meteorous, as Ev'ning Mist..o're the marish glides. View more context for this quotation
1720 A. Pope tr. Homer Iliad VI. xxiv. 101 Iris..Meteorous the Face of Ocean sweeps.
1750 S. Johnson Rambler No. 68. ⁋3 Meteorous pleasures which dance before us and are dissipated.
1770 G. White Let. 12 May in Nat. Hist. Selborne (1789) 81 Amidst all this meteorous strife and war of the elements, two swallows discovered themselves..in frost and snow.
1807 F. Wrangham Serm. Transl. Script. 1 The wavering and meteorous glare of the Eighth Henry.
1841 I. D'Israeli Amenities Lit. III. 340 We must conclude that there are meteorous beings, whose eccentric orbits we know not how to describe.
1882 Society 7 Oct. 16/1 Thy wavering, meteorous, quixotic indulgence [said of a comet].
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2001; most recently modified version published online September 2018).
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adj.1667