pronto
Americanadverb
adverb
Etymology
Origin of pronto
1840–50, < Spanish (adj. and adv.) quick, quickly < Latin promptus prompt (adj.)
Explanation
Pronto is an adverb meaning promptly or quickly. If someone asks you to do something pronto, they want it done now. Sometimes parents, bosses, and teachers need you to do something fast: one word that carries this meaning is pronto, which comes from Italian and originally applied to playing music quickly. If your dad says, "Take out the trash pronto!" he wants you to take it out now. If your boss asks you to finish a project pronto, she wants you to finish it right away. Pronto means about the same as ASAP, which stands for "as soon as possible."
Vocabulary lists containing pronto
Immediately
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Immediately
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Red Flags and Butterflies
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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.
You might want to stock up on chocolate for Easter pronto — because chocolate prices are likely bound to explode very soon.
From Salon • Mar. 20, 2024
We arrived at 19:00 under the foolish misapprehension that I would be whisked in and put on that antibiotic drip pronto.
From BBC • Oct. 28, 2023
If it isn’t, someone find her a school historian, pronto.
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 21, 2023
So it’s been declared priority No. 1 for lawmakers to come up with something else — pronto.
From Seattle Times • Dec. 3, 2022
See you at 3:45 pronto on the courts,
From "The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge" by M.T. Anderson and Eugene Yelchin
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.
