hasty
Americanadjective
-
moving or acting with haste; speedy; quick; hurried.
- Antonyms:
- slow
-
made or done with haste or speed.
a hasty visit.
-
unduly quick; precipitate; rash.
a hasty decision.
- Antonyms:
- deliberate
-
brief; fleeting; passing; slight.
a hasty glance.
-
impatient; impetuous; thoughtless; injudicious.
hasty words.
-
easily irritated or angered; irascible.
a hasty temper.
adjective
-
rapid; swift; quick
-
excessively or rashly quick
-
short-tempered
-
showing irritation or anger
hasty words
Usage
What does hasty mean? Hasty most commonly means too fast and often careless.Synonyms include rash, rushed, or hurried.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 usually how hasty is used.Being too hasty when doing something is thought to lead to mistakes. A hasty decision is one that is thought to have been made too quickly, often leading to negative consequences. A hasty generalization involves jumping to broad conclusions by judging something too quickly.Hasty can also mean brief or moving with or done with speed, as in a hasty visit. The adverb hastily can simply mean rapidly but is usually used to mean carelessly, rashly, or too quickly.Example: Don’t be too hasty when decorating the cake—take your time and do it properly.
Other Word Forms
- hastily adverb
- hastiness noun
- unhasty adjective
Etymology
Origin of hasty
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English, from Middle French hasti, hastif; haste, -ive
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.
The hasty announcement shows how Canada’s complicated language politics continue to loom over its business world.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 30, 2026
Clothes, medicines, food, shoes, blankets and sheets were scattered on the floors and tables of the houses, evidence of a hasty search.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 19, 2026
Singapore first banned vapes in 2018 as a precaution while it weighed up the evidence on its effects on health, stating it would be "irresponsible to make a hasty decision".
From BBC • Jan. 16, 2026
The reality of ramping up Venezuelan production means that Monday’s stock moves may end up looking hasty.
From Barron's • Jan. 6, 2026
Her sentences had a hasty quality; he wondered what she had been doing then.
From "Americanah" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
