Celerity

//sɪˈlɛɹɪti// noun

noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Speed, swiftness. uncountable, usually

    "O most kind maid, / It was the swift celerity of his death, / Which I did think with slower foot came on, / That brain'd my purpose."

  2. 2
    a rate that is rapid wordnet
  3. 3
    The speed of an individual wave (as opposed to the speed of groups of waves); often denoted c. uncountable, usually
  4. 4
    The speed of an individual wave (as opposed to the speed of groups of waves); often denoted c.; The speed with which a perturbation to the flow propagates through the flow domain. uncountable, usually
  5. 5
    The speed of symbol transmission, now called baud rate. dated, uncountable, usually

    "Celerity of dispatching the Chappe telegraph [section title]"

Synonyms

All synonyms
rapidityair speedalacrityalacritybatbriskness

Example

More examples

"The exquisite feminine beauty of her countenance, now shaded only by a profusion of sunny tresses; the sylph-like form, disencumbered of her heavy riding-skirt and mantled in azure silk; the grace of her manner and of her smile, cleared, with a celerity which surprised the Master himself, all the gloomy and unfavourable thoughts which had for some time overclouded his fancy."

Etymology

From Old French celeritee (compare French célérité), from Latin celeritas, from celer (“fast, swift”).

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.