hurry
Americanverb (used without object)
-
hurries,
present (3rd person singular)
-
hurried,
past participle, past
-
hurrying
present participle
verb (used with object)
-
hurries,
present (3rd person singular)
-
hurried,
past participle, past
-
hurrying
present participle
noun
-
hurries
plural
-
a state of urgency or eagerness.
to be in a hurry to meet a train.
-
hurried movement or action; haste.
- Antonyms:
- deliberation
verb
-
to hasten (to do something); rush
-
to speed up the completion, progress, etc, of
noun
-
haste
-
urgency or eagerness
-
informal
-
easily
you won't beat him in a hurry
-
willingly
we won't go there again in a hurry
-
Synonym Usage
See rush 1.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
hurrysimple
-
hurriessimple
-
have hurriedperfect
-
has hurriedperfect
-
am hurryingprogressive
-
are hurryingprogressive
-
is hurryingprogressive
-
have been hurryingperfect progressive
-
has been hurryingperfect progressive
Past
-
hurriedsimple
-
had hurriedperfect
-
was hurryingprogressive
-
were hurryingprogressive
-
had been hurryingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of hurry
First recorded in 1580–90; expressive word of uncertain origin, compare Middle English horyed (attested once) “rushed, impelled,” Middle High German hurren “to move quickly”
Explanation
To hurry is to rush, or to move quickly. If you're late for a movie and you don't want to miss the beginning, you'll have to hurry into the theater, not stopping to buy popcorn. When you're out for a walk and the sun begins to set, you might hurry home before it gets dark — in other words, move rapidly, or in haste. You can also hurry someone else, encouraging them to speed up. Your math teacher may criticize your sloppy work by commenting, "Looks like you were in a hurry." Hurry is one of many words that were invented by William Shakespeare, who used it frequently.
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.
See Examples For:
"I have no time schedule. I'm not in a hurry."
From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026
One good thing for buyers in a hurry is that physical inspections of properties are less common than in the U.S., and the focus is more on the financing and legal side.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 10, 2026
He was a sweet retiree who’d tell me about his weekly fishing adventures and close my garage whenever I was in a hurry and would forget.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
Mohamed Nias was one of the hundreds of Moroccans who left work in a hurry on Thursday, having "heard that the border with Ceuta was open".
From Barron's ● Aug. 1, 2026
“Good evening, Colin. I’m anxious to speak with you, but I’m in an awful hurry to get a note off to Jakob.”
From "The Bletchley Riddle" by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin
She prepares dinner, then hurries to an Amazon warehouse for a 6 1/2-hour shift sorting, scanning and hefting bulky items.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 10, 2026
Rosa hurries to her aunt's house, hoping to catch the last of the daylight.
From BBC ● Aug. 9, 2025
Each hurries forth into the night, headed somewhere we can’t possibly know in a world full of uncertainty.
From Salon ● Jan. 25, 2025
More than halfway around the block, the rain picks up and Dominguez hurries them home.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 7, 2024
But Baldwin hikes up his pants and hurries to catch up with him.
From "The Inquisitor's Tale" by Adam Gidwitz
Hundreds of volunteers hurried through the packed parking lot next to Bogota's largest stadium, forming human chains to pass donated water bottles, food provisions, sanitary products and bedding to the sorting area.
From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026
Now it means not being hurried, spending time with my family, control over my schedule, and intellectual independence.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 9, 2026
Written in Persian on brittle paper in hurried hands, they formed the Mughal empire's information network: part intelligence brief, part official circular, part news bulletin.
From BBC ● Jun. 27, 2026
Inside an intimate pub, however, filling out the scene with empty tables could distract from the hurried, nervous nature of the filmmaker’s original intent.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 14, 2026
I hurried to the shiny black automobile beside which she was standing.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
Hamstring injuries are finicky, especially for a mobile quarterback, and hurrying back from one is never smart.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2025
Houses and hills ablaze, people abandoning homes and cars, walking down the hill toward the sea and hurrying along Pacific Coast Highway.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 8, 2025
We’re most vulnerable when we’re hurrying to check things off the to-do list and get a good deal, especially one too good to be true.
From Salon ● Dec. 21, 2024
A shirtless man is seen holding a towel around his waist, and hurrying down a hallway.
From BBC ● May 17, 2024
I could hear a bee buzzing nearby, and I tugged on the straps of my backpack, hurrying up the porch steps.
From "The Line Tender" by Kate Allen
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.
