Advertisement

View synonyms for hasten

hasten

[ hey-suhn ]

verb (used without object)

  1. to move or act with haste; proceed with haste; hurry:

    to hasten to a place.



verb (used with object)

  1. to cause to hasten; accelerate:

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

    Synonyms: precipitate, speed, quicken, expedite, press, urge

hasten

/ ˈheɪsən /

verb

  1. may take an infinitive to hurry or cause to hurry; rush
  2. tr to be anxious (to say something)

    I hasten to add that we are just good friends

“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
Discover More

Derived Forms

  • ˈhastener, noun
Discover More

Other Words From

  • hasten·er noun
  • outhasten verb (used with object)
  • over·hasten verb
  • un·hastened adjective
Discover More

Word History and Origins

Origin of hasten1

First recorded in 1565–75; haste + -en 1
Discover More

Example Sentences

I hasten to add, it's not a form of farming.

From Salon

Previously his main concern had been that "vulnerable people could be pressured into hastening their own deaths", but he said he believed the current proposal contained "sufficient safeguards" to prevent this.

From BBC

Cross a tipping point in the climate system and, similarly, you might spark a cascading set of consequences like hastened warming, rising sea levels and increasingly extreme weather.

Recently, social media has hastened the celebrity of animals such as Grumpy Cat and JiffPom the Pomeranian.

The Amish are pacifists, he hastened to add.

Advertisement

Discover More

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.

 

 

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

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement