ships passing in the night
Brief, unremembered meeting
Ships passing in the night describes a brief encounter between people who are unlikely to meet again, or a connection that fails to happen at all.
The image is of two vessels glimpsing each other in darkness before continuing on separate courses.
The phrase often carries a note of wistfulness or missed opportunity: We were ships passing in the night—one conversation at a conference, then nothing.
- transienceBrevity of existence
- briefShort in duration
- analogyExplanatory likeness between things
- ephemeralityCondition of being brief
- unrequited loveRomantic feelings not returned
star-crossed lovers · metaphor · momentary · expression · saying · idiom · chance encounter · crossing paths · estrangement · lost touch · acquaintanceship · separation · parallel lives · temporariness · divergence · impermanence · fleeting · missed connection
ships passing in the nightlifelong bond
Permanent relational tie
soulmates · kindred spirits · inseparable · bosom friends · joined at the hip
ships passing in the nightcommitted relationship
Mutual pledge between partners
intentional community · chosen family · love at first sight · meant to be · settling down
ships passing in the nightlifelong friends
Companions since childhood onward
soulmates · life partners · childhood friends · old friends · till death do us part
shipping, shipped, shipper, passing, passed, passes, passer, passable, passage