adv ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Adverb

1. 1
   In a swift manner; quickly; with quick motion or velocity; fleetly.

   "Mrs. Piper cut short these piracies by swiftly removing his spoon."

Adverb

1. 1
   in a swift manner wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

abruptlyagilelyamainapaceat flank speedat once

Example

More examples

"Were a serious crisis to arise, the government would have to act swiftly."

Etymology

From Middle English swiftly, swyftely, swiftliche, from Old English swiftlīċe (“swiftly”), equivalent to swift + -ly.

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