instant

American  

[in-stuhnt] / ˈɪn stənt /

noun

• instants
  plural

1. an infinitesimal or very short space of time; a moment.

   They arrived not an instant too soon.

   Synonyms:

   trice, jiffy, flash, twinkling, second

2. the point of time now present or present with reference to some action or event.

3. a particular moment.

   at the instant of contact.

4. a food or beverage, especially coffee, specially processed for quick preparation.

5. Older Use. the present or current month.

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adjective

1. succeeding without any interval of time; prompt; immediate.

   instant relief from a headache.

2. pressing or urgent.

   instant need.

3. noting a food or beverage requiring a minimal amount of time and effort to prepare, as by heating or the addition of milk or water, before being served or used.

   instant coffee; instant pudding.

4. occurring, done, or prepared with a minimal amount of time and effort; produced rapidly and with little preparation.

   an instant book; instant answers; instant history.

5. designed to act or produce results quickly or immediately.

   an instant lottery.

6. Older Use. of the present month: inst.

   your letter of the 12th instant.

7. present; current.

   the instant case before the court.

adverb

1. instantly.

instant British  

/ ˈɪnstənt /

noun

1. a very brief time; moment

2. a particular moment or point in time

   at the same instant

3. immediately; without delay

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adjective

1. immediate; instantaneous

2. (esp of foods) prepared or designed for preparation with very little time and effort

   instant coffee

3. urgent or imperative

4. (postpositive)

   1.  inst.  of the present month Compare proximo ultimo

      a letter of the 7th instant

   2. currently under consideration

adverb

1. a poetic word for instantly

Synonym Usage

See minute ¹.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• instants
  plural

Etymology

Origin of instant

First recorded in 1350–1400; from Latin instant- (stem of instāns ), present participle of instāre “to be present, urgent,” equivalent to in- in- ² + -stā- stand + -nt- present participle suffix

Explanation

An instant is a very short time. In combinations like instant coffee and instant replay it means available right away without a wait. Instant and moment mean the same thing if you are talking about a particular time in the past like you remember the instant or moment you realized that you had won the lottery. However, the two words are very different when talking about time in the future. "I'll be there in an instant" means you're coming as quickly as possible, whereas if you say "I'll be there in a moment," someone is going to have to wait a bit for you.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

instant instants

The BBC's Tokyo correspondent Kurumi Mori tries Japan's latest food trend, instant noodles made with cold water.

From BBC ● Sep. 1, 2026

Data centers enable Zoom meetings, online food deliveries, video streaming, instant retail stock trading and more.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 31, 2026

The egregious business decision drew instant ire from all sides.

From Salon ● Aug. 30, 2026

Someone who places lots of bets using prediction-market apps craves instant gratification.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 18, 2026

Betsie handed it to me, and in an instant I had wrapped it around the Bible and the vitamin bottle and stuffed the precious bundle behind the benches.

From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom

When analyzing spacetime, do events, instants, worldlines or even spacetime as a whole exist in the same sense as places and people?

From Science Daily ● Nov. 2, 2025

In ECSE, scientists will take x-ray pictures of scale-model pits as they collapse and investigate how neutrons behave during those crucial instants before the nuclear detonation.

From Science Magazine ● Apr. 20, 2023

There’s just no comparison, and in a way it isn’t fair to test the flavor of Cometeer against powdered instants — but we did because when it comes to add-water-and-stir coffee, it’s an option.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 23, 2023

In effect, as the researchers recorded the state of the system at different instants, they were accumulating high-dimensional data points.

From Scientific American ● Sep. 26, 2022

These are things that, tragically, lead to a momentary loss of focus; but they are accidents, tiny blips, and instants.

From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel