hasten

[ hey-suhn ]

/ ˈheɪ sən /

Save This Word!

See synonyms for: hasten / hastened / hastening on Thesaurus.com

verb (used without object)

to move or act with haste; proceed with haste; hurry: to hasten to a place.

verb (used with object)

to cause to hasten; accelerate: to hasten someone from a room; to hasten the arrival of a happier time.

OTHER WORDS FOR hasten

2 urge, press; expedite, quicken, speed; precipitate.

See synonyms for hasten on Thesaurus.com

QUIZ

WILL YOU SAIL OR STUMBLE ON THESE GRAMMAR QUESTIONS?

Smoothly step over to these common grammar mistakes that trip many people up. Good luck!

Question 1 of 7

Fill in the blank: I can’t figure out _____ gave me this gift.

who

whom

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of hasten

First recorded in 1565–75; haste + -en¹

OTHER WORDS FROM hasten

has·ten·er, nounouthasten, verb (used with object)o·ver·has·ten, verbun·has·tened, adjective

Words nearby hasten

hasta luego, hasta mañana, hastate, haste, Haste makes waste, hasten, Hastie, hastily, Hastings, Hastings, Battle of, hasty

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

MORE ABOUT HASTEN

What does hasten mean?

Hasten means to go faster or cause to go faster.

Hasten often sounds a bit formal. More informal phrases like speed up and hurry up can be used to mean the same thing and are more commonly used.

Hasten is often used in the context of saying that efforts to achieve some kind of goal need to be accelerated (done faster), as in We need to hasten our efforts to address climate change.

To hasten something’s demise is to make it fail more quickly.

The related noun haste most commonly refers to urgency, such as in completing a task. It can also be used as another word for speed or swiftness, as in We have to move with haste if we want to make it on time. The phrase make haste means to move quickly, hurry up, or rush.

Example: This report highlights the fact that we need to hasten our efforts to eradicate this disease.

Where does hasten come from?

The first records of the word hasten come from around 1570. It’s a combination of the noun haste and the suffix -en, which is used to form verbs from nouns (as in heighten and lengthen).

Most of the time, the noun haste implies that something was simply done too fast, leading to mistakes. Hasten, though, does not imply this. It’s typically used in the context of speeding up work on a task in order to get it done.

Did you know ... ?

What are some synonyms for hasten?

What are some words that share a root or word element with hasten?

What are some words that often get used in discussing hasten?

How is hasten used in real life?

Hasten is less commonly used than more informal terms like speed up.

The cycle of violence at #RikersIsland must end. We need to hasten efforts to close this dangerous facility and transition to more modern and humane facilities.⁰https://t.co/1A1jTQiM2P

— Joe Crowley (@JoeCrowleyNY) December 15, 2017

🌍🌞A global group of accomplished scientists, including Prof Francois Engelbrecht from Wits University, have called on world leaders to hasten efforts to tackle #climatechange. Prof Engelbrecht led the analysis that identified climate change hot spots.#ClimateAction pic.twitter.com/wHiaDA304M

— Wits University (@WitsUniversity) September 20, 2019

Your daily reminder: our intricate planetary biome needs us to protect it, not hasten its demise.#science #environment #biology https://t.co/WPzshxerzQ

— Jess Phoenix 🌋 (@jessphoenix2018) May 26, 2019

Try using hasten!

Which of the following terms is NOT a synonym of hasten?

A. speed up
B. hurry up
C. slow down
D. accelerate

How to use hasten in a sentence

While USTR’s profile heightened, Lighthizer largely avoided the limelight, knowing that upstaging his boss could hasten his exit.
Robert Lighthizer Blew Up 60 Years of Trade Policy. Nobody Knows What Happens Next.|by Lydia DePillis|October 13, 2020|ProPublica
“These results suggest cultivating awe enhances positive emotions that foster social connection and diminishes negative emotions that hasten decline,” the researchers concluded in their paper.
Regular doses of awe can do wonders for emotional health|Kat Eschner|September 22, 2020|Popular-Science
New seafloor maps reveal the first clear view of a system of channels that may be helping to hasten the demise of West Antarctica’s vulnerable Thwaites Glacier.
New maps show how warm water may reach Thwaites Glacier’s icy underbelly|Carolyn Gramling|September 9, 2020|Science News
Biochemical changes from loneliness can accelerate the spread of cancer, hasten heart disease and Alzheimer’s, or simply drain the most vital among us of the will to go on.
Why do you feel lonely? Neuroscience is starting to find answers.|Amy Nordrum|September 4, 2020|MIT Technology Review

If that makes male leopards change their migratory patterns permanently, it could hasten the animal’s decline even faster.
Leopards Are Indeed Changing Their Spots|Eromo Egbejule|August 14, 2020|Ozy
“This has got to be the oldest way in the human race to hasten death,” he said.
The Nurse Coaching People Through Death by Starvation|Nick Tabor|November 17, 2014|DAILY BEAST
As I hasten to reassure these exasperated moms and dads, I had to be in the office anyway.
The Doctor’s Note Must Die!|Russell Saunders|September 16, 2014|DAILY BEAST
And his election would not hasten the Republican apocalypse.
Thad Cochran Wins One for Sanity Over Tea Partier Chris McDaniel|Michael Tomasky|June 25, 2014|DAILY BEAST
But fluctuations of mere feet during its flood season could sustain the rise of empires, or hasten their fall.
The Nile: Where Ancient and Modern Meet|William O’Connor|June 21, 2014|DAILY BEAST
And in the case of South Africa, the divestment effort helped hasten the demise of an evil regime.
Why Stanford Should Keep Its Coal Stocks|Daniel Gross|May 15, 2014|DAILY BEAST
By the second process, it is made to the advantage of the issuer of the notes to hasten their withdrawal himself.
Readings in Money and Banking|Chester Arthur Phillips
Who he could not make out, except that it was a Kirton: and it prayed him to hasten down immediately.
Elster's Folly|Mrs. Henry Wood
Hasten the time, and remember the end, that they may declare thy wonderful works.
The Bible, Douay-Rheims Version|Various
He had perhaps placed in her hand the weapon that should hasten his own defeat, stretch him bleeding on the sand.
The Wave|Algernon Blackwood
Let them hasten and take up a lamentation for us: let our eyes shed tears, and our eyelids run down with waters.
The Bible, Douay-Rheims Version|Various

British Dictionary definitions for hasten

hasten

/ (ˈheɪsən) /

verb

(may take an infinitive) to hurry or cause to hurry; rush

(tr) to be anxious (to say something)I hasten to add that we are just good friends

Derived forms of hasten

hastener, noun

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

hasten

OTHER WORDS FOR hasten

Origin of hasten

OTHER WORDS FROM hasten

Words nearby hasten

MORE ABOUT HASTEN

What does hasten mean?

Where does hasten come from?

Did you know ... ?

How is hasten used in real life?

Try using hasten!

Words related to hasten

How to use hasten in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for hasten

Derived forms of hasten