immediacy

[ih-mee-dee-uh-see]

noun

plural

immediacies 

1. the state, condition, or quality of being immediate.

2. Often immediacies. an immediate need.

   the immediacies of everyday living.

3. Philosophy.

   1. immediate presence of an object of knowledge to the mind, without any distortions, inferences, or interpretations, and without involvement of any intermediate agencies.

   2. the direct content of the mind as distinguished from representation or cognition.

Word History and Origins

Origin of immediacy¹

First recorded in 1595–1605; immedi(ate) + -acy

Example Sentences

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission was more circumspect, concluding in 2014 that high-frequency trades didn’t cause the flash crash, but “contributed to it by demanding immediacy ahead of other market participants.”

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

There was an immediacy to it, which you then see with Bruce and his father in the film.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

That starkness gives the movie the in-the-moment immediacy of a nature doc about a shark and a swarm of remoras.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The average person also has recency and immediacy biases.

Read more on Salon

“Fentanyl is too dangerous a threat — 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine — to not treat its lethality with the seriousness and immediacy it requires,” Hochman said.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• closeness