Synonyms

hastily

American

[heyst-l-ee] / ˈheɪst l i /

adverb

with haste; rapidly; speedily.

Late one snowy night in Maryland, moving crews hastily loaded a line of vans and, under cover of darkness, departed the city.
without sufficient care or attention.

This book feels far less potent, and far more hastily written, than the earlier work.
unnecessarily quickly or rashly; impetuously.

Six months earlier, she had hastily married a former high school classmate.

Usage

What does hastily mean? Hastily means rashly or too quickly and often carelessly.The related adjective hasty most commonly means too fast and often careless.The noun haste most commonly refers to urgency, such as in completing a task. Haste can also be used as another word for speed or swiftness. But haste also commonly means urgency or speed that is careless or reckless. This is how the word is used in the expression haste makes waste, which means that rushing things leads to mistakes. This is how hasty and hastily are most commonly used.Doing things hastily is thought to lead to mistakes. Making a decision hastily is making it too quickly, often leading to negative consequences.Hastily can also mean speedily, as in We packed up hastily and left as quickly as we could. Example: Don’t make big decisions hastily—you should always take some time to think about them.

Other Word Forms

unhastily adverb

Etymology

Origin of hastily

First recorded in 1275–1325; hasty ( def. ) + -ly

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.

And this latest fender bender might be the one that finally illuminates dashboard warning lights for those bosses who have always so hastily turned to Woods in the past.

From BBC • Mar. 30, 2026

Victors went beyond checking off a list of hastily scrawled names to thanking entire categories of people: women, ancestors, Koreans, audiences.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 16, 2026

Frightened and not knowing where to go, they hastily took cover under the steps of a villa whose owners had themselves left everything on the table and hurried off.

From Barron's • Mar. 14, 2026

The hastily arranged partnership of Fournier Beaudry and Cizeron arrived as a gold-medal contender—and villains in the eyes of figure skating’s most passionate fans.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 12, 2026

“Sure, sure,” said Bunny hastily, leaping up and nearly knocking over the table.

From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023