Instantly

adv, conj

adv, conj ·3 syllables ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Adverb
  1. 1
    At once; without delay. not-comparable

    "When the neighbours' dog barked, ours instantly replied with a howl."

  2. 2
    Urgently; with insistence. archaic, not-comparable

    "Sir, my lord would instantly speak with you."

  3. 3
    At the same time. not-comparable, obsolete

    "As if he mastred there a double spirit Of teaching, and of learning instantly"

Adverb
  1. 1
    without any delay wordnet
  2. 2
    without delay or hesitation; with no time intervening wordnet
Conjunction
  1. 1
    As soon as, directly.

    "I phoned instantly I heard you were back."

Synonyms

All synonyms
immediatelyinstantaneouslyamainapaceat onceat once

Example

More examples

"We must deal with the problem instantly."

Etymology

From instant + -ly.

Related phrases

at once

More for "instantly"

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