Synonyms

in a flash

Idioms

Also,. Quickly, immediately. For example, I'll be with you in a flash, or He said he'd be done in a jiffy, or I'll be off the phone in a second, or I felt a drop or two, and in a trice there was a downpour. The first idiom alludes to a flash of lightning and dates from about 1800. The word jiffy, meaning “a short time,” is of uncertain origin and dates from the late 1700s (as does the idiom using it); a second, literally one-sixtieth of a minute, has been used vaguely to mean “a very short time” since the early 1800s; and trice originally meant “a single pull at something” and has been used figuratively since the 1500s.

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.

But that illusion is impossible if all of space-time occurs in a flash.

From Science Daily • Jun. 8, 2026

Last month — to their surprise and seemingly in a flash — Edwards and his wife’s net worth hit $1 million, with home equity accounting for just one-fourth of it.

From MarketWatch • May 15, 2026

The American president is about to appear when the broadcast abruptly cuts off and the room blanks out in a flash of white.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 26, 2026

It was all a very clear reminder that the best-laid plans and political strategies can be derailed in a flash.

From BBC • Nov. 12, 2025

Papi was next to me in a flash.

From "When I Was Puerto Rican" by Esmeralda Santiago

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