For at least 15 years, I have been looking for a word to describe a concept that came up quite often. And for at least 15 years, that word has not existed.
Until now.
I give you: “temporative”.
This word is essentially the exact antonym to the word “timeless”. There are many words that approach the meaning I’ve been going for, but always require specific other conditions to be met or are only used in very specific circumstances.
The definition of “temporative” is:
Characteristic of, influenced by, or strongly associated with a particular moment or period in time; often in a way that limits enduring relevance.
Usage examples:
“I want to avoid temporative design trends in my kitchen remodel like all-white cabinetry and busy backsplashes; I want something more timeless that will look nice decades from now.”
“As you drive further out into the suburbs, you notice the rows of temporative houses which make it painfully obvious in which decade each neighborhood was built.”
In some contexts – especially when exclusively referencing things from the past – the word “dated” carries a very similar meaning and could be used more or less interchangeably. However, there are key distinctions:
- “Dated” carries a negative connotation; “temporative” is neutral
- “Dated” suggests only that something is no longer in fashion without suggesting that it was ever indicative of a specific time
So, for example, you can use “temporative” in situations where you want to point out that things may be from a variety of different time periods, such as with the suburban houses example. “Dated” simply lumps them all together.
But the most-important use-case for “temporative” is for describing things that are currently in fashion. Using this word, you can effortless convey that something may be in-fashion or popular now, but that it will eventually be considered out-of-date and strongly associated with the current time.
“Anachronistic” is another related word, but has an extremely niche use case. It’s only used when something outdated is found in a modern context. It’s not very versatile.
“Redolent” is one that could probably be considered a loose synonym, however it is perhaps too broad in that it means something is strongly reminiscent or suggestive of something else. While I think it can be used to mean a time period, more commonly it seems to be used when something is suggestive of an idea, person, place, or even smell or sound.
Another important point about “temporative” is that it isn’t necessary to specify which time period something is associated with. While you could say, for example, “That outfit is very 70s,” with “temporative,” you could simply say, “That’s a temporative outfit.”
This would be especially useful in a situation where there are multiple people wearing outfits from a variety of time periods.
Some relevant antonyms to “temporative” are:
- timeless (of course)
- enduring
- evergreen
- perennial
I actually did quite a bit of research over the years to come up with this word. First, I tried to find out if any major languages already had a word with this meaning.
It turns out they don’t! Almost all have direct translations of words like “dated,” none have a more general word.
So I took it upon myself to simply come up with one, and “temporative” is the best I could come up with.
You might be asking yourself, “why does he care about having this word?”
That’s a great question!
You see, words encapsulate ideas and facilitate understanding. It’s difficult for people to understanding concepts which lack words to explain them. Once a word exists, it’s easier for people to communicate and share ideas related to those words.
I’ve never cared for the ephemeral nature of fashion trends for things like clothing, but I dislike them even more when it comes to things like housing. If trends change wildly every decade, it means that you have to spend a fortune changing your house, for example, just to keep up with completely arbitrary standards and fashions that provide no actual utility.
It’s silly.
Perhaps if a word like “temporative” were to become mainstream, people would stop and think a bit more before making decisions that will cost them in the long run. The more popular and ubiquitous something is now, the more likely it is that you will need to completely replace it in the near future, and I think that’s quite silly.
So maybe this word could make people stop and think. Maybe they’d choose things that aren’t trendy now, but are more unique and timeless. That way they wouldn’t need to replace it every 10 years.
I was fortunate enough to buy a house a few years back which I still live in. There is some tile work in the kitchen and bathrooms that I believe was done by one of the previous owners. It’s timeless. It looks great. I have no idea when they did it.
It feels like I’ll never need to replace it, and I really appreciate that.
Sometimes you walk into a house and it has green shag carpet and the shiplap walls that were everywhere in the 70s, and you just think, “they NEED to do something about this.”
At one time it was huge, and then it wasn’t. And now these kinds of temporative design cues are a huge liability. They make your guests cringe, and potential home buyers head for the hills.
But maybe, just maybe, if we spent more time thinking about the future and trying to do things in a way that won’t make them outdated, we can save lots of effort (and money), and perhaps even add a bit more uniqueness into the world.