Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Synonyms

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).

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.

"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

“Faced with these uncertainties, we expect the RBA to make haste slowly, commencing a tightening cycle from mid-2023 onwards.”

From Reuters • Nov. 2, 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

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.