rapidly
Americanadverb
-
within a short period of time.
There are thousands of languages spoken in the world today, but many of them are rapidly approaching obsolescence and extinction.
-
with great speed; swiftly.
Bats are more likely than birds to detect rapidly spinning turbine blades and avoid flying into them.
Other Word Forms
- ultrarapidly adverb
Etymology
Origin of rapidly
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.
With the invention of an efficient cotton gin in the 1790s, cotton planting spread rapidly across the Deep South as far west as Texas.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 3, 2026
Both sets of our parents were aging rapidly and reminding us of our own mortality.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 3, 2026
“Gas prices will rapidly come back down and stock prices will rapidly go back up,” he said.
From Barron's • Apr. 2, 2026
Claim: “They were also rapidly building a vast stockpile of conventional ballistic missiles and would have soon had missiles that could reach the American homeland, Europe, and virtually any other place on earth.”
From Slate • Apr. 2, 2026
But then her legs pressed in harder, and in her stomach she felt the distinct sickness of rising rapidly.
From Anya and the Dragon by Sofiya Pasternack
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.
