noun ·Uncommon ·College level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   The state of being swift. uncountable, usually

   "with remarkable swiftness"

2. 2
   a rate (usually rapid) at which something happens wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

celerityhastepromptnessquicknessrapidityspeed

Example

More examples

"The kite soared upwards with the swiftness of a bird."

Etymology

From Middle English swiftnesse, swyftnesse, from Old English swiftnes (“swiftness”), equivalent to swift + -ness.

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