prompt
Americanadjective
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done, performed, delivered, etc., at once or without delay.
I emailed them asking about my package and they gave a prompt reply.
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ready in action; quick to act as occasion demands.
They were trained to be prompt and competent for any emergency.
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quick or alert.
You're too prompt to take offense.
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She's never prompt in arriving for work, yet she's always the first to leave at the end of the day.
verb (used with object)
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prompts,
present (3rd person singular)
-
prompted,
past participle, past
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prompting
present participle
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to move or induce to action.
What prompted you to say that?
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to occasion or incite; inspire.
What prompted his resignation?
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to assist (a person speaking) by suggesting something to be said.
It's obvious that this witness has been prompted into giving false testimony.
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Theater. to supply (an actor, singer, etc.) from offstage with a missed cue or forgotten line.
I focused on prompting our Cyrano, who had become strangely disoriented.
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Computers. (of a computer system) to send a message or symbol to (a user) requesting information or instructions, usually by displaying the message or symbol on a screen.
Once the home page has loaded, the computer will prompt you to log in to your account.
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Computers, Digital Technology. to request particular output from (a machine learning algorithm) by means of instructions, questions, examples, context, or other input.
verb (used without object)
-
prompts,
present (3rd person singular)
-
prompted,
past participle, past
-
prompting
present participle
noun
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prompts
plural
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the act of prompting.
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something serving to suggest or remind.
They send an email once a month, which is just the prompt I need to pay my bill on time.
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Commerce.
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a limit of time given for payment for merchandise purchased, the limit being stated on a note of reminder prompt note.
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the contract setting the time limit.
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Computers. a message or symbol from a computer system to a user, generally appearing on a display screen, requesting more information or indicating that the system is ready for user instructions.
When the prompt appears, provide your access code.
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Computers, Digital Technology. a sequence of inputs, often containing instructions, questions, examples, or context, used to request particular output from a machine learning algorithm.
idioms
adjective
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performed or executed without delay
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quick or ready to act or respond
adverb
verb
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(tr) to urge (someone to do something)
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to remind (an actor, singer, etc) of lines forgotten during a performance
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(tr) to refresh the memory of
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(tr) to give rise to by suggestion
his affairs will prompt discussion
noun
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commerce
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the time limit allowed for payment of the debt incurred by purchasing goods or services on credit
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the contract specifying this time limit
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Also called: prompt note. a memorandum sent to a purchaser to remind him of the time limit and the sum due
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-
the act of prompting
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anything that serves to remind
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an aid to the operator of a computer in the form of a question or statement that appears on the screen showing that the equipment is ready to proceed and indicating the options available
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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promptsimple
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promptssimple
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have promptedperfect
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has promptedperfect
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am promptingprogressive
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are promptingprogressive
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is promptingprogressive
-
have been promptingperfect progressive
-
has been promptingperfect progressive
Past
-
promptedsimple
-
had promptedperfect
-
was promptingprogressive
-
were promptingprogressive
-
had been promptingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of prompt
First recorded in 1400–50; Middle English prompte “ready, eager” (adjective), prompten (verb), both ultimately from Latin promptus “manifest, at hand, ready, quick, prepared,” adjective use of past participle of prōmere “to bring forth, deliver, set forth,” from prō- pro- 1 + (e)mere “to buy, obtain, take”
Explanation
If you're prompt, you're on time. Go ahead and be prompt to class. Also, to prompt is to inspire or make happen. Getting in trouble for being late should prompt you to get a better alarm clock. The adjective prompt can mean "as scheduled," or simply "quick." When you prompt someone, you motivate them in some way: you might offer a reminder, assistance, or even inspiration to do something. For example, honking your car horn prompts your friend to get moving, and speaking up in defense of your classmate might prompt a bully to change his ways. If a director prompts an actor who's forgotten his lines, she reminds him what comes next.
Vocabulary lists containing prompt
Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
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Essential English Vocabulary, List 1
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"To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee, Chapters 20–25
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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.
See Examples For:
Surely, though, it must be possible to punish a company for being reckless or negligent in its use of A.I., even if no one gave an agent a prompt like “Do some crimes.”
From Slate ● Oct. 25, 2026
It was unclear what additional evidence has emerged to prompt referral to the city attorney’s office.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 22, 2026
However, a smaller fiscal action could prompt the Fed to do more, including slashing interest rates and potentially restarting its purchases of longer-dated U.S. debt, he said.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 19, 2026
Some people worry that too much regulation will just prompt students to party off campus, where the rules won’t apply.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 18, 2026
Okay, so the journal prompt was “Pick any character in Mark Twain’s works and explain how he or she is changed by his or her experiences.”
From "Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie" by Jordan Sonnenblick
Spotify, and its competitors like Apple Music and Amazon Music, are driving the trend in AI-assisted curation, allowing premium subscribers to automatically generate playlists through text prompts to fit a mood, vibe or occasion.
From BBC ● Oct. 24, 2026
Which prompts a question: Are there Canadians who believe they have gained from this whole back and forth?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026
Researchers posing as teenagers with San Francisco Bay Area-based accounts tested more than 4,000 prompts before and after the launch of ChatGPT for Teens.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026
The new gene prompts the cells to produce CARs only when it reaches this intended location.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 7, 2026
Keegan tries to dig himself out from under his own heap of counterevidence by repeatedly issuing pronouncements about what an unidentified “we” stubbornly and defensively believe—which only prompts the reader to think, “Speak for yourself!”
From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker
It produced for one prompter a schematic of a jet engine.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026
Those accounts accused Harris of making use of the prompter to answer questions from the audience, asked in English and Spanish, causing Univision producers to set the record straight late Thursday night.
From Salon ● Oct. 11, 2024
I'd like to see how she performs more off the cuff and without an ability to read from the prompter.
From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2024
In addition, actor Adam Huel Potter was guaranteed bit roles in Willis films and served as Willis’ prompter, providing the actor his lines through the ear piece.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 30, 2022
The average number of days which elapsed between the receipt of the complaint and the final report of the Tenement House Inspector is 10.75, which represents prompter action than was previously obtained.
From Commercialized Prostitution in New York City by George Jackson Kneeland
The Federal Reserve Board's first credit-easing step, in May 1953, "was the promptest response to an economic decline ever taken by a central bank in any country."
From Time Magazine Archive
Needed: "Additional and improved bombers, airborne alert, more missiles of existing types, speeded production of Polaris submarines, the promptest possible dispersal and hardening of bases, and a program for civil defense."
From Time Magazine Archive
The day Yastrzemski steps out, museum curators will mark him for promptest delivery.
From Time Magazine Archive
The sullen Osborne reluctantly says, "I must confess he was the promptest man living in detecting an imposture."
From Literary Character of Men of Genius Drawn from Their Own Feelings and Confessions by Isaac Disraeli
Now, if ever, was the time for his promptest action, and with Winn thought and action went hand in hand.
From Raftmates A Story of the Great River by Kirk Munroe
Concerns about mirror life have prompted scientists to recommend restrictions on research intended to produce organisms capable of reproducing using mirror-image biological molecules.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 24, 2026
In a recent study by the nonprofit, researchers prompted AI models to describe their surroundings in two randomly labeled environments.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 24, 2026
Whether the fine prompted the company to change its ways is hard to gauge.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 23, 2026
The sneaker industry is suffering from excess inventory of casual lifestyle sneakers, which has prompted many shoe sellers such as Foot Locker and Nike to slap on discounts.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 22, 2026
She and the twins had only learned how to swim at Abuelito’s insistence, which had been prompted by her father’s drowning.
From "Out of Darkness" by Ashley Hope Pérez
Today, inflation remains elevated, albeit well below levels seen in 2022, prompting the Fed to hike its policy rate in September.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 24, 2026
Rescue efforts have been complicated by concerns that excavation using diggers could limit the supply of air to those trapped, prompting emergency responders to cease using them, according to the Daily Nation newspaper.
From BBC ● Oct. 24, 2026
But after an unconventional production, an unencrypted hard drive containing the film was stolen from a Netflix office, prompting a $105 million lawsuit.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 22, 2026
A shark that became a viral sensation after getting stuck in a South Korean canal returned hours after being coaxed out, authorities said on Thursday, prompting another attempt to guide it back to the sea.
From Barron's ● Oct. 22, 2026
How like Hermione Lola was, to remain guiltless while others destroyed themselves at her prompting.
From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
