Presently

adv

adv ·3 syllables ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Adverb
  1. 1
    Immediately, at once; quickly. British, archaic

    "Polonius: My lord, the queen would speak with you, and presently."

  2. 2
    Before long; soon.

    "Presently all was quiet again."

  3. 3
    At present; now; currently. proscribed, rare

    "The towns and forts you presently have."

  4. 4
    With actual presence; in actuality. obsolete

    "March 27 1545, Stephen Gardiner, letter to Thomas Smith and MAtthew PArker if they perceyve not presently, it shal be wel doon to bringe them to conformite"

Adverb
  1. 1
    in the near future wordnet
  2. 2
    at this time or period; now wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
before longafter a whileanonany moreat presentat the moment

Example

More examples

"Talk of devil, and he's presently at your elbow."

Etymology

From Middle English presently; equivalent to present + -ly.

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