Forthwith

//fɔːθˈwɪð// adv

adv ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Adverb
  1. 1
    Without delay; immediately. formal, literary, not-comparable

    "Neyther euery thynge, whiche ony maner way is bredde or gendred of man: is forthwith a man (for els lyſe ſholde be called men) But that thynge, whiche is conceyued in the matrice or wombe of a woman, of the very ſubſtaunce of man: [...]"

Adverb
  1. 1
    without delay or hesitation; with no time intervening wordnet

Example

More examples

"Mathematicians are like some Frenchmen: whatever you say to them they translate into their own language, and forthwith it is something entirely different."

Etymology

From Middle English forth-with (“at once, immediately; at the same time, already; straight ahead”) [and other forms], partly from the phrase forth with (something), and partly from forth-with-al, furth-with-al (“at once, immediately; together with”) (whence forthwithal).

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