fast

[fast, fahst]

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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR fast ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective, fast·er, fast·est.

moving or able to move, operate, function, or take effect quickly; quick; swift; rapid: a fast horse; a fast pain reliever; a fast thinker.

done in comparatively little time; taking a comparatively short time: a fast race; fast work.

(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: 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.

characterized by hectic activity: leading a fast life.

resistant: acid-fast.

firmly fixed in place; not easily moved; securely attached.

held or caught firmly, so as to be unable to escape or be extricated: an animal fast in a trap.

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 fast color; a hard and fast rule.

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, fast·er, fast·est.

quickly, swiftly, or rapidly.

in quick succession: Events followed fast upon one another to the crisis.

tightly; firmly: to hold fast.

soundly: fast asleep.

in a wild or dissipated way.

ahead of the correct or announced time.

Archaic. close; near: fast by.

noun

a fastening for a door, window, or the like.

Idioms

play fast and loose. play(def 80).

pull a fast one, Informal. to play an unfair trick; practice deceit: He tried to pull a fast one on us by switching the cards.

Origin of fast

before 900; Middle English; Old English fæst firm; cognate with Dutch vast, Old Norse fastr firm, German fest; akin to fast²

Can be confusedfast quick rapid swift (see synonym study at quick)

Synonyms for fast

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR fast ON THESAURUS.COM

1, 2. fleet, speedy. See quick. 5. dissipated, dissolute, profligate, immoral; wild, prodigal. 8. secure, tight, immovable, firm. 9. inextricable. 13. faithful, steadfast. 14. enduring. 20. securely, fixedly, tenaciously. 22. recklessly, wildly, prodigally.

Antonyms for fast

1, 2. slow. 5, 6. restrained. 8. loose.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for faster

rapid, agile, brisk, nimble, hot, quick, swift, tight, durable, sure, stable, true, loose, easy, rapidly, swiftly, soon, quickly, hard, fleeting

Examples from the Web for faster

Contemporary Examples of faster

Their clear priorities : faster economic growth and promoting upward mobility for the middle and working classes.
Time to Bring Back the Truman Democrats
Joel Kotkin
December 21, 2014
When he next tried out for the varsity, he weighed 174 pounds and was faster than he had been on his arrival at West Point.
How His West Point Football Experience Inspired Eisenhower
Nicolaus Mills
November 11, 2014
The cars had plush green upholstery and stained-glass windows and were faster and cheaper than a horse-and-buggy.
Those Kansas City Blues: A Family History
Katie Baker
October 24, 2014
This will be a temporary position—to help us get started and to respond to the “We need to do more, we need to do it faster.”
Meet America’s New Top Ebola Fighter
Abby Haglage
September 26, 2014
They know this is a rotten deal and they are demoralized, running faster and faster with no hope of catching up.
Why Your Doctor Feels Like a 'Beaten Dog'
Daniela Drake
September 11, 2014

Historical Examples of faster

I think I'm just a split second surer and faster than you are with a gun.
Way of the Lawless
Max Brand
What was there in life that could enable one to forget it faster?
Dust
Mr. and Mrs. Haldeman-Julius
Faster and faster she fled to the forest, bearing the broken blade to Siegmund's wife.
Opera Stories from Wagner
Florence Akin
Wouldn't you get on faster with your books if you had a teacher?
Tip Lewis and His Lamp
Pansy
I have not been the better for it; I was getting on faster while I was merely a plodder.
Alice, or The Mysteries, Complete
Edward Bulwer-Lytton

British Dictionary definitions for faster

fast

adjective

acting or moving or capable of acting or moving quickly; swift

accomplished in or lasting a short timefast work; a fast visit

(prenominal) adapted to or facilitating rapid movementthe fast lane of a motorway

requiring rapidity of action or movementa 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 activitya 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 readilya fast dye

proof against fadingthe colour is fast to sunlight
(in combination)washfast

photog

requiring a relatively short time of exposure to produce a given densitya fast film
permitting a short exposure timea fast shutter

cricket (of a bowler) characteristically delivering the ball rapidly

informal glib or unreliable; deceptivea fast talker

archaic sound; deepa fast sleep

informal a deceptive or unscrupulous trick (esp in the phrase pull a fast one)

fast worker a person who achieves results quickly, esp in seductions

adverb

quickly; rapidly

soundly; deeplyfast asleep

firmly; tightly

in quick succession

in advance of the correct timemy watch is running fast

in a reckless or dissipated way

fast by or fast beside archaic close or hard by; very near

play fast and loose informal to behave in an insincere or unreliable manner

interjection

archery (said by the field captain to archers) stop shooting!

Word Origin for fast

Old English fæst strong, tight; related to Old High German festi firm, Old Norse fastr

fast

verb

(intr) to abstain from eating all or certain foods or meals, esp as a religious observance

noun

an act or period of fasting
(as modifier)a fast day

Derived Formsfaster, noun

Word Origin for fast

Old English fæstan; related to Old High German fastēn to fast, Gothic fastan

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for faster

"one who fasts," c.1300, agent noun from fast (v.).

fast

adj.

Old English fæst "firmly fixed, steadfast, secure, enclosed," probably from Proto-Germanic *fastuz (cf. Old Frisian fest, Old Norse fastr, Dutch vast, German fest), from PIE root *past- "firm" (cf. Sanskrit pastyam "dwelling place").

The adverb meaning "quickly, swiftly" was perhaps in Old English, or from Old Norse fast, either way developing from the sense of "firmly, strongly, vigorously" (cf. to run hard means to run fast; also compare fast asleep), or perhaps from the notion of a runner who "sticks" close to whatever he is chasing.

The sense of "living an unrestrained life" (usually of women) is from 1746 (fast living is from 1745). Fast buck recorded from 1947; fast food is first attested 1951. Fast-forward first recorded 1948. Fast lane is by 1966; the fast track originally was in horse-racing (1934); figurative sense by 1960s. To fast talk someone (v.) is recorded by 1946.

fast

Old English fæstan "to fast" (as a religious duty), from Proto-Germanic *fastejan (cf. Old Frisian festia, Old High German fasten, German fasten, Old Norse fasta), from the same root as fast (adj.).

The original meaning was "hold firmly," and the sense evolution is via "firm control of oneself," to "holding to observance" (cf. Gothic fastan "to keep, observe," also "to fast"). Presumably the whole group is a Germanic translation of Medieval Latin observare "to fast." Related: Fasted; fasting.

fast

Old English fæstan, festen, or Old Norse fasta; from the root of fast (v.).

Idioms and Phrases with faster

fast

In addition to the idioms beginning with fast

fast and furious
fast and loose
fast buck
fast lane
fast track

also see:

get nowhere (fast)
hard and fast
pull a fast one
stand one's ground (fast)
thick and fast