What does "hasty" mean?
Acting or done in haste; hurried or too quick; speedy due to having little time.
Hasty
/ˈheɪsti/ adj, name
adj, name ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: Acting or done in haste; hurried or too quick; speedy due to having little time.
- Grammar: hasty is listed as adj, name.
- Nearest alternatives: precipitous, a bit previous, abrupt, accident prone.
- Useful contrasts: slow, academic tone, analytical data.
- Usage evidence: There is no need to draw a hasty conclusion.
How to use "hasty"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "hasty" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "hasty" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "hasty" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "hasty" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "hasty" is acting as adj, name in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "precipitous" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "hasty", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Adjective
- 1 Acting or done in haste; hurried or too quick; speedy due to having little time.
"Without much thinking about it they made a hasty decision to buy it."
- 2 Acting or done in haste; hurried or too quick; speedy due to having little time.; Made in haste.
"Sommer Hony, or hasty hony, made in thirty dales after the tenth of June."
- 3 Acting or done in haste; hurried or too quick; speedy due to having little time.; Ripening or coming to maturity early.
"... how to make the trees themselves more tall, more spread, and more hasty and sudden than they use to be."
- 4 Acting or done in haste; hurried or too quick; speedy due to having little time.; Eager or impatient to act or get something done.
"... the Queene is not so hasty of your death."
- 5 Acting or done in haste; hurried or too quick; speedy due to having little time.; Characterized by undue quickness of action, and thus lacking careful thought or consideration; rash, precipitate.
"a hasty decision, a hasty assertion"
Show 3 more definitions
- 6 Speedy, quick, rapid (without necessarily lacking time). archaic
"This people hathe a swyfte hasty speche."
- 7 Irritable, irascible; quickly or easily excited to anger.
"his hasty temperament"
- 8 Heavy, violent.
"Hasty rain liberates flukes' eggs from sheep's droppings, and splashes them round about upon the circumjacent herbage; but healthy sheep, protected by their nose, are in little danger here of swallowing these eggs […]"
Adjective
- 1 excessively quick wordnet
- 2 done with very great haste and without due deliberation wordnet
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname. countable, uncountable
- 2 An unincorporated community in Newton County, Arkansas, United States. countable, uncountable
- 3 A census-designated place in Bent County, Colorado, United States. countable, uncountable
Synonyms
All synonymsAntonyms
Example
"There is no need to draw a hasty conclusion."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "hasty"?
Common synonyms include: precipitous, a bit previous, abrupt, accident prone, accident-prone, ad lib.
How do you use "hasty" in a sentence?
There is no need to draw a hasty conclusion.
How do you pronounce "hasty"?
Pronounced /ˈheɪsti/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English hasty, of obscure origin. Likely a new formation in Middle English equivalent to haste + -y, found as in other Germanic languages (Old Frisian hâstich, Middle Dutch haestich (> Dutch haastig (“hasty”)), Middle Low German hastich (“hasty”), German hastig, Danish hastig, Swedish hastig (“hasty”)); otherwise possibly representing an assimilation to the foregoing of Middle English hastive, hastif (> English hastive), from Old French hastif (Modern French hâtif), from Frankish *haifst (“violence”), ultimately of the same Germanic origin.
Etymology 2
Two main origins: * From a pet form of the Norman personal name Asketin, derived from Old Norse Ásketill, composed of the elements áss (“god”) and ketill (“sacrificial cauldron”). * From Middle English hasty (“quick, speedy”), a nickname for a brisk or impetuous person, or possibly for a messenger.