immediate

[ ih-mee-dee-it ]

adjective

1. occurring or accomplished without delay; instant:

   an immediate reply.

   Synonyms: instantaneous

   Antonyms: deferred, delayed

2. following or preceding without a lapse of time:

   the immediate future.

3. having no object or space intervening; nearest or next:

   in the immediate vicinity.

   Synonyms: proximate, close

   Antonyms: far, distant

4. of or relating to the present time or moment:

   our immediate plans.

5. without intervening medium or agent; direct:

   an immediate cause.

6. having a direct bearing:

   immediate consideration.

7. being family members who are very closely related to oneself, usually including one’s parents, siblings, spouse, and children:

   my immediate family;

   her immediate kin;

   his immediate relatives.

8. Philosophy. directly intuited.

immediate

/ ɪˈmiːdɪət /

adjective

1. taking place or accomplished without delay

   an immediate reaction

2. closest or most direct in effect or relationship

   the immediate cause of his downfall

3. having no intervening medium; direct in effect

   an immediate influence

4. contiguous in space, time, or relationship

   our immediate neighbour

5. present; current

   the immediate problem is food

6. philosophy of or relating to an object or concept that is directly known or intuited
7. logic (of an inference) deriving its conclusion from a single premise, esp by conversion or obversion of a categorial statement

Derived Forms

• imˈmediacy, noun

Other Words From

• im·me·di·ate·ness noun
• im·me·di·ate·ly adverb
• qua·si-im·me·di·ate adjective
• un·im·me·di·ate adjective
• un·im·me·di·ate·ness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of immediate¹

First recorded in 1525–35; from Medieval Latin immediātus; im- ², mediate (adjective)

Word History and Origins

Origin of immediate¹

C16: from Medieval Latin immediātus, from Latin im- (not) + mediāre to be in the middle; see mediate

Example Sentences

Still, the family maintains that immediate medical attention should have been provided.

From Vox

Asked Wednesday why that is the case, Biden replied, “I’ve been out of office for four years,” arguing that voters do not have an immediate sense of the progress the Obama administration made.

From Washington Post

Three in five voters in Wisconsin express worries that they or someone in their immediate family might contract the coronavirus, with about a quarter overall saying they are very worried.

From Washington Post

There was an immediate need to know where their employees are.

From Fortune

The reprieve takes some of the immediate heat off, but change is coming and a lot of businesses aren’t prepared.

From Digiday

It is grandstanding for a right rarely protected unless under immediate attack.

From The Daily Beast

Their immediate response tells an important truth about a police slowdown that has spread throughout New York City in recent days.

From The Daily Beast

Analysts interpreted it as an immediate ripple effect of the newly established US-Cuban détente.

From The Daily Beast

During the immediate protests for Michael Brown I walked in the crowd solo and mostly silent.

From The Daily Beast

JUDNICK: The immediate supremacist reaction is to equalize everything.

From The Daily Beast

The intricacies and abrupt turns in the road separated him from his immediate followers.

From Project Gutenberg

It consists in finding relations between the objects of thought with an immediate awareness of those relations.

From Project Gutenberg

All immediate danger having now been dispelled, the Spaniards solaced themselves with the sweets of revenge.

From Project Gutenberg

I perceive no immediate reason for the evacuation of Peking as far as the supply of game is concerned.

From Project Gutenberg

It lay framed within his thoughts, isolated from the rest of life, isolated somehow even from the immediate present.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• actual
• prompt
• urgent