posthaste

American

[pohst-heyst] / ˈpoʊstˈheɪst /

adverb

with the greatest possible speed or promptness.

to come to a friend's aid posthaste.

noun

Archaic. great haste.

posthaste British

/ ˈpəʊstˈheɪst /

adverb

with great haste; as fast as possible

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

noun

archaic great haste

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

posthaste Cultural

Immediately, with great speed: “Get the flood warning to the media posthaste.”

Etymology

Origin of posthaste

First recorded in 1530–40; post ³ + haste

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.

“Anora” fans must catch up with Manning Walker’s debut posthaste.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 26, 2025

Unsurprisingly, the birds trashed the room, leaving tour manager John Courage to remove them posthaste.

From Salon • Dec. 22, 2024

Grandpa had a bad fall, and his shrewish second wife wants him carted off to a nursing home posthaste.

From Washington Post • Mar. 14, 2023

That production, directed by Deborah Warner at the Old Vic in 2016, reaped such ecstatic notices for its star that it was widely assumed it would be crossing the Atlantic posthaste.

From New York Times • Feb. 20, 2019

Obviously you need to get back to Redwall posthaste.

From "Redwall" by Brian Jacques

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