What is the difference between provisional and temporary

Just looking at the WR dico shows shades of meaning. Reading and researching it is enlightening! Greetings, rukiak. Only use the other words if temporary is not specific enough for what you want to say.

All of those terms involve something impermanent or something intended to be impermanent. However, temporary is the most versatile of the three and would serve as a good substitute in the two other phrases. For example: A temporary government is not expected to last a long time. A provisional government is also not expected to last; but, if you want to be more specific, something provisional is not only temporary but designed to be replaced by something permanent—a permanent government in this case.

Likewise, a temporary agreement is not meant to last. A tentative agreement is also not meant to last, and anything tentative is usually considered a first attempt to be followed by something more refined.

Elections officials make sure your mail-in ballot was not counted before they process your provisional ballot. The latest change to the provisional deadline, spotted earlier by Reuters, could be the result of one of the parties asking for more time. The spirit of the novel is one of doubt and questioning; its knowledge is provisional and its perspectives multiple. Most radical was the Provisional Constitution drafted by northern abolitionists, including John Brown.

The book opens in December of with the story of an ambush of the convoy of Coalition Provisional Authority chief Paul Bremer. Some students waited in line for seven hours to get provisional ballots. Phrases Related to provisional provisional licence. Style: MLA. English Language Learners Definition of provisional. Legal Definition of provisional. Other Words from provisional provisionally adverb. Get Word of the Day daily email! Test Your Vocabulary.

Test your visual vocabulary with our question challenge! Love words? Only the user who asked this question will see who disagreed with this answer. Read more comments. Provisional is not used much in spoken language. For example, a new driver gets a "provisional license" before taking a driving test.

But people call it "temporary license" in conversation because "provisional" sounds weird. Also, temporary means something that will exist for a short time, but provisional implies that you must earn something to keep it.