fast
1 Americanadjective
-
faster,
comparative
-
fastest
superlative
-
moving or able to move, operate, function, or take effect quickly; quick; swift; rapid: a fast pain reliever;
a fast horse;
a fast pain reliever;
a fast thinker.
- Antonyms:
- slow
-
done in comparatively little time; taking a comparatively short time: fast work.
a fast race;
fast work.
- Antonyms:
- slow
-
(of time)
-
indicating a time in advance of the correct time, as of a clock.
-
noting or according to daylight-saving time.
-
-
adapted to, allowing, productive of, or imparting rapid movement: one of the fastest pitchers in baseball.
a hull with fast lines;
one of the fastest pitchers in baseball.
-
characterized by unrestrained conduct or lack of moral conventions, especially in sexual relations; wanton; loose.
Some young people in that era were considered fast, if not downright promiscuous.
- Synonyms:
- prodigal, wild, immoral, profligate, dissolute, dissipated
- Antonyms:
- restrained
-
characterized by hectic activity.
leading a fast life.
- Antonyms:
- restrained
-
resistant.
acid-fast.
-
firmly fixed in place; not easily moved; securely attached.
- Antonyms:
- loose
-
held or caught firmly, so as to be unable to escape or be extricated.
an animal fast in a trap.
- Synonyms:
- inextricable
-
firmly tied, as a knot.
-
closed and made secure, as a door, gate, or shutter.
-
such as to hold securely.
to lay fast hold on a thing.
-
firm in adherence; loyal; devoted.
fast friends.
-
permanent, lasting, or unchangeable: a hard and fast rule.
a fast color;
a hard and fast rule.
- Synonyms:
- enduring
-
Informal.
-
(of money, profits, etc.) made quickly or easily and sometimes deviously.
He earned some fast change helping the woman with her luggage.
-
cleverly quick and manipulative in making money.
a fast operator when it comes to closing a business deal.
-
-
Photography.
-
(of a lens) able to transmit a relatively large amount of light in a relatively short time.
-
(of a film) requiring a relatively short exposure time to attain a given density.
-
-
Horse Racing.
-
(of a track condition) completely dry.
-
(of a track surface) very hard.
-
adverb
-
quickly, swiftly, or rapidly.
-
in quick succession.
Events followed fast upon one another to the crisis.
-
to hold fast.
- Synonyms:
- tenaciously, fixedly, securely
-
fast asleep.
-
in a wild or dissipated way.
- Synonyms:
- prodigally, wildly, recklessly
-
ahead of the correct or announced time.
-
Archaic. close; near.
fast by.
noun
idioms
-
pull a fast one, to play an unfair trick; practice deceit.
He tried to pull a fast one on us by switching the cards.
-
play fast and loose. play.
verb (used without object)
-
fasts,
present (3rd person singular)
-
fasted,
past participle, past
-
fasting
present participle
-
to abstain from all food.
-
to eat only sparingly or of certain kinds of food, especially as a religious observance.
verb (used with object)
-
fasts,
present (3rd person singular)
-
fasted,
past participle, past
-
fasting
present participle
noun
-
an abstinence from food, or a limiting of one's food, especially when voluntary and as a religious observance; fasting.
-
a day or period of fasting.
noun
adjective
-
acting or moving or capable of acting or moving quickly; swift
-
accomplished in or lasting a short time
fast work
a fast visit
-
(prenominal) adapted to or facilitating rapid movement
the fast lane of a motorway
-
requiring rapidity of action or movement
a fast sport
-
(of a clock, etc) indicating a time in advance of the correct time
-
given to an active dissipated life
-
of or characteristic of such activity
a fast life
-
not easily moved; firmly fixed; secure
-
firmly fastened, secured, or shut
-
steadfast; constant (esp in the phrase fast friends )
-
sport (of a playing surface, running track, etc) conducive to rapid speed, as of a ball used on it or of competitors playing or racing on it
-
that will not fade or change colour readily
a fast dye
-
-
proof against fading
the colour is fast to sunlight
-
( in combination )
washfast
-
-
photog
-
requiring a relatively short time of exposure to produce a given density
a fast film
-
permitting a short exposure time
a fast shutter
-
-
cricket (of a bowler) characteristically delivering the ball rapidly
-
informal glib or unreliable; deceptive
a fast talker
-
archaic sound; deep
a fast sleep
-
informal a deceptive or unscrupulous trick (esp in the phrase pull a fast one )
-
a person who achieves results quickly, esp in seductions
adverb
-
quickly; rapidly
-
soundly; deeply
fast asleep
-
firmly; tightly
-
in quick succession
-
in advance of the correct time
my watch is running fast
-
in a reckless or dissipated way
-
archaic close or hard by; very near
-
informal to behave in an insincere or unreliable manner
interjection
verb
noun
Synonym Usage
See quick.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
fastsimple
-
fastssimple
-
have fastedperfect
-
has fastedperfect
-
am fastingprogressive
-
are fastingprogressive
-
is fastingprogressive
-
have been fastingperfect progressive
-
has been fastingperfect progressive
Past
-
fastedsimple
-
had fastedperfect
-
was fastingprogressive
-
were fastingprogressive
-
had been fastingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of fast1
First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English fæst “firm”; cognate with Dutch vast, Old Norse fastr “firm,” German fest; akin to fast 2
Origin of fast2
First recorded before 1000; Middle English fasten, festen, Old English fæstan; cognate with German fasten, Gothic fastan, Old Norse fasta
Origin of fast3
First recorded in 1670–80; alteration, by association with fast 1 ( def. ) (in the sense “firmly tied”), of late Middle English fest “fastening, mooring rope,” from Old Norse festr “mooring rope, cable,” from Old Norse fastr “fixed, firm”; cf. fasten, fast 1
Explanation
When you see fast, you might think of Olympic runner Usain "Lightning" Bolt or a Porsche 911 Turbo. Alternatively, and quite confusingly, fast also means to refrain from eating for a certain period, usually for religious reasons. Fast is another of those deceptively simple words that have a number of other meanings beyond their most common usages. If something "sticks fast" it means it cannot be removed — like a leech or a stain. "To stand fast" means not to give up your point of view or to remain loyal. Then there's also the slang meaning of living beyond the constraints of normal behavior — as in "the fast life," "the fast track," or "the fast lane."
Vocabulary lists containing fast
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
“You got to go fast and get the quarterback before he passes. You got about three seconds.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026
The future was coming on fast, and it was dumb as a brick.
From Salon ● Aug. 16, 2026
Bangladesh also went into the match against a full-strength Australian team with two of their leading fast bowlers, Nahid Rana and Shoriful Islam, out injured.
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026
"The stability of the circulation depends on how fast the climate is changing."
From Science Daily ● Aug. 14, 2026
I left Katrien in the dining room, wheeled my bicycle down the stairs, and bumped as fast as I could the mile and a half to Nollie’s.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
She realized that to even make the U.S. team for Paris, she needed to swim faster with one leg than she did with two.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026
“It searches much faster than we can across many more spaces,” said Peng, who is director of advanced diagnostics and therapeutics at the New York Center for Rare Diseases.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 15, 2026
But the number of caravans without planning permission rose much faster.
From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026
But as inequality has supercharged the gap between workers with the highest and lowest incomes, wages above the cap have grown much faster than those under the cap, Romig noted.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 14, 2026
My hero’s going to a tiny Pacific island, where, faster than a shopper at a half-price sale, he’ll set off again to rescue the lady hero.
From "Nim’s Island" by Wendy Orr
The SHO made its debut in 1989 as the fastest front-wheel-drive car in the world.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026
She was beaten only by the fastest time recorded in 43 years.
From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026
That meant he finished 20th overall, with the 16 fastest qualifying for the semi-finals later on Friday.
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026
It follows a 0.6% rise in the first quarter—the fastest among the Group of 7 leading industrialized nations.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
Walk into any neighborhood anywhere in the world and ask some kids who’s the fastest one there, and right away they’ll tell you, they’ll point to him.
From "Crash" by Jerry Spinelli
Still, scientists have had only a limited understanding of exactly how the body responds during longer fasts.
From Science Daily ● May 17, 2026
Six Flags Qiddiya City recently hosted iftar celebrations that marked the end of the daily Ramadan fasts.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 26, 2026
In the following years, they built a flourishing movement fighting for farmworkers’ rights, employing marches, fasts and other nonviolent protest actions.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 19, 2026
Community iftar or open iftar events are gaining popularity as well around the country where people of diverse communities and all faiths join Muslims in breaking their fasts and share a meal.
From BBC ● Mar. 1, 2025
He claims this dream to be divinely inspired, and fasts this day.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson
Wangchuk fasted in scorching heat in the capital, Delhi, for 26 days in June and July, consuming only salt and water.
From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026
He said that he did go to the mosque every Friday, and that he prayed and fasted and raised his children to be good Muslims.
From Slate ● Apr. 19, 2026
Chavez and his cause earned international attention, especially after he fasted for 36 days in 1968, ending it by sharing bread with then-presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 17, 2026
In came the resistance bands, dead lifts, dumbbells and agility drills, plus a private chef who got a sweet break from 8 p.m. until noon the next day, as Doncic intermittently fasted.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2025
Pong had never spoken with a monk before, but he knew that monks fasted each day from noon until sunrise the next day.
From "A Wish in the Dark" by Christina Soontornvat
In late 2022, Elon Musk posted that he lost 30 pounds by fasting and taking semaglutide.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 5, 2026
People who lowered their protein intake lost weight and body fat and showed improvements in fasting blood sugar, despite often consuming more total calories.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 2, 2026
It is the fasting warming content, heating up twice as fast as the global average, according to the Copernicus climate service.
From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026
India's activist Sonam Wangchuk has ended a hunger strike after 26 days of fasting in support of youth-led protesters demanding education reforms.
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
Even when Ramadan arrived during the season and I had to play volleyball and fence while fasting from sunrise to sunset, abstaining from food and water, I still didn’t want to quit.
From "Proud" by Ibtihaj Muhammad
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
