Synonyms

hastily

American

[heyst-l-ee] / ˈheɪst l i /

adverb

with haste; rapidly; speedily.

Late one snowy night in Maryland, moving crews hastily loaded a line of vans and, under cover of darkness, departed the city.
without sufficient care or attention.

This book feels far less potent, and far more hastily written, than the earlier work.
unnecessarily quickly or rashly; impetuously.

Six months earlier, she had hastily married a former high school classmate.

Usage

What does hastily mean? Hastily means rashly or too quickly and often carelessly.The related adjective hasty most commonly means too fast and often careless.The noun haste most commonly refers to urgency, such as in completing a task. Haste can also be used as another word for speed or swiftness. But haste also commonly means urgency or speed that is careless or reckless. This is how the word is used in the expression haste makes waste, which means that rushing things leads to mistakes. This is how hasty and hastily are most commonly used.Doing things hastily is thought to lead to mistakes. Making a decision hastily is making it too quickly, often leading to negative consequences.Hastily can also mean speedily, as in We packed up hastily and left as quickly as we could. Example: Don’t make big decisions hastily—you should always take some time to think about them.

Other Word Forms

unhastily adverb

Etymology

Origin of hastily

First recorded in 1275–1325; hasty ( def. ) + -ly

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.

Staff hastily arranged emergency kits and hard hats as props around the lectern ahead of her remarks on the shooting.

From The Wall Street Journal

Some of those embedded in the files hail from Epstein’s innermost circle while others may have done nothing more than respond hastily to a single email.

From The Wall Street Journal

Díaz-Canel said at a hastily convened news conference on Thursday that any dialogue should come without prior conditions, and as equals, respecting Cuba’s sovereignty.

From The Wall Street Journal

But their tone changed after a hastily arranged phone call between the two men on January 7.

From Barron's

There were various piles around that seemed hastily straightened up.

From Literature

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023