Haste
name, noun, verb ·Common ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 Speed; swiftness; dispatch. uncountable, usually
"We were running late so we finished our meal in haste."
- 2 the act of moving hurriedly and in a careless manner wordnet
- 3 Urgency; sudden excitement of feeling or passion; precipitance; vehemence. obsolete, uncountable, usually
"I said in my haste, All men are liars."
- 4 overly eager speed (and possible carelessness) wordnet
- 5 a condition of urgency making it necessary to hurry wordnet
- 1 To urge onward; to hasten. archaic, transitive
"Baſſ. You may doe ſo, but let it be ſo haſted that ſupper be readie at the fartheſt by fiue of the clocke."
- 2 To move with haste. archaic, intransitive
"The city is amaz'd, for Sylla hastes / To enter Rome with fury, sword and fire."
- 1 A surname from Old French.
Antonyms
All antonymsExample
More examples"Make haste, and you will be in time."
Etymology
Blend of Middle English hasten (verb), (compare Dutch haasten, German hasten, Danish haste, Swedish hasta (“to hasten, rush”)) and Middle English hast (“haste”, noun), from Old French haste (whence French hâte), from Old Frankish *hai(f)st (“violence”), from Proto-Germanic *haifstiz (“struggle, conflict”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱeyp- (“to ridicule, mock, anger”). Akin to Old Frisian hāst, hāste (“haste”), Old English hǣst (“violence”), Old English hǣste (“violent, impetuous, vehement”, adjective), Old Norse heift /heipt (“feud”), Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐌹𐍆𐍃𐍄𐍃 (haifsts, “rivalry”). Cognate with German heftig (“vehement”) and Danish heftig (“vehement”).
Metonymic occupation surname for someone who turned the spit for roasting meat, from Old French haste (“spit”).
Related phrases
More for "haste"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.