make haste

Idioms  

1. Also, make it snappy. Hurry up, move or act quickly, as in If you don't make haste we'll be late, or Make it snappy, kids. The first expression was first recorded in Miles Coverdale's 1535 translation of the Bible (Psalms 39:13): “Make haste, O Lord, to help me.” The variant dates from the early 1900s and uses snappy in the sense of “resembling a sudden jerk.” The oxymoron make haste slowly, dating from the mid-1700s, is a translation of the Latin festina lente. It is used either ironically, to slow someone down (as in You'll do better if you make haste slowly), or to comment sarcastically on a lack of progress (as in So far the committee has been making haste slowly).

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Example Sentences

Earlier this year, NV Energy informed Liberty that it would no longer serve as its wholesale energy provider after mid-May next year, and urged Liberty to make haste to secure an alternate supplier.

From Los Angeles Times • May 19, 2026

"Parliament members now need to make haste so that they can bring in skilled, honest and deserving candidates to the seats reserved for women in parliament."

From BBC • Feb. 13, 2026

Then it will turn west and make haste: “We’re gonna gun it for the delta,” Stack Morgan says.

From Scientific American • Feb. 17, 2022

As she headed back to the warehouse, her dispatcher encouraged her to make haste to beat the tornado, she said.

From Seattle Times • Dec. 11, 2021

“No, we ain’t. Now make haste, son. I don’t want no kinfolks or neighbor ladies seein’ what we done and buttin’ in with suggestions.

From "Cold Sassy Tree" by Olive Ann Burns

Related Words

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• zip