Momentarily means for a very brief moment or in just a moment, but these two meanings can confuse people.

In American English, momentarily usually means “very soon” or “in a moment.” When a flight attendant announces “We'll be landing momentarily,” she means the plane will touch down in a few minutes. When your mom says “I'll be there momentarily,” she means she's coming shortly.

The word can also mean “for just a moment,” describing something that happens briefly and then stops. If you're momentarily distracted during class, your attention wanders for just a second before returning to the lesson. A light that flashes momentarily blinks on and off quickly.

The confusion happens because these meanings point in opposite directions: one describes something about to happen, the other describes something that happened briefly. Context usually makes the meaning clear. When someone says they'll help you momentarily, they mean soon. When they say they were momentarily confused, they mean it lasted only a short time.

In British English, people typically use momentarily only for the “briefly” meaning and say “in a moment” when they mean soon. But in American English, both uses are common and correct.