quick

[kwik]

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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR quick ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective, quick·er, quick·est.

done, proceeding, or occurring with promptness or rapidity, as an action, process, etc.; prompt; immediate: a quick response.

that is over or completed within a short interval of time: a quick shower.

moving, or able to move, with speed: a quick fox; a quick train.

swift or rapid, as motion: a quick flick of the wrist.

easily provoked or excited; hasty: a quick temper.

keenly responsive; lively; acute: a quick wit.

acting with swiftness or rapidity: a quick worker.

prompt or swift to do something: quick to respond.

prompt to perceive; sensitive: a quick eye.

prompt to understand, learn, etc.; of ready intelligence: a quick student.

(of a bend or curve) sharp: a quick bend in the road.

consisting of living plants: a quick pot of flowers.

brisk, as fire, flames, heat, etc.

Archaic.

endowed with life.
having a high degree of vigor, energy, or activity.

noun

living persons: the quick and the dead.

the tender, sensitive flesh of the living body, especially that under the nails: nails bitten down to the quick.

the vital or most important part.

Chiefly British.

a line of shrubs or plants, especially of hawthorn, forming a hedge.
a single shrub or plant in such a hedge.

adverb, quick·er, quick·est.

quickly.

Idioms

cut to the quick, to injure deeply; hurt the feelings of: Their callous treatment cut her to the quick.

Origin of quick

before 900; Middle English quik lively, moving, swift; Old English cwic, cwicu living; cognate with Old Saxon quik, German queck, keck, Old Norse kvikr; akin to Latin vīvus living (see vital), Sanskrit jivas living, Greek bíos life (see bio-), zoḗ animal life (see zoo-)

Related formsquick·ness, nounun·quick, adjectiveun·quick·ly, adverbun·quick·ness, noun

Can be confusedfast quick rapid swift (see synonym study at the current entry)quick quickly (see usage note at the current entry)

Synonyms for quick

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR quick ON THESAURUS.COM

1. fleet, expeditious. Quick, fast, swift, rapid describe speedy tempo. Quick applies particularly to something practically instantaneous, an action or reaction, perhaps, of very brief duration: to give a quick look around; to take a quick walk. Fast and swift refer to actions, movements, etc., that continue for a time, and usually to those that are uninterrupted; when used of communication, transportation, and the like, they suggest a definite goal and a continuous trip. Swift, the more formal word, suggests the greater speed: a fast train; a swift message. Rapid, less speedy than the others, applies to a rate of movement or action, and usually to a series of actions or movements, related or unrelated: rapid calculation; a rapid walker. 5. abrupt, curt, short, precipitate. 7. nimble, agile, brisk. 10. See sharp.

Antonyms for quick

1, 10. slow.

Usage note

The difference between the adverbial forms quick and quickly is frequently stylistic. Quick is more often used in short spoken sentences, especially imperative ones: Come quick! The chimney is on fire. Quickly is the usual form in writing, both in the preverb position ( We quickly realized that attempts to negotiate would be futile ) and following verbs other than imperatives ( She turned quickly and left ). See also slow, sure.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for quickness

agility, speed, acumen, dexterity, rapidity, velocity, fleetness, celerity, haste, expedition, facility, dispatch, pace, alacrity, briskness

Examples from the Web for quickness

Contemporary Examples of quickness

“With so many more head cases, quickness is the key to survival and a productive life” after a devastating injury.
Pronounced Dead in Vietnam, Lt. Bill Haneke Inspires Post-9/11 Veterans
Sandra McElwaine
November 11, 2012

Historical Examples of quickness

This quickness upon me, interrupted my mother, is not to be borne!
Clarissa, Volume 1 (of 9)
Samuel Richardson
So turning from me, she spoke with quickness, Whither now, Clary Harlowe?
Clarissa, Volume 1 (of 9)
Samuel Richardson
Your young mistress has contributed a great deal to this quickness of yours.
Clarissa, Volume 2 (of 9)
Samuel Richardson
The thought did not present itself so quietly but that her quickness intercepted it.
Little Dorrit
Charles Dickens
I was a little afraid of his raillery, and of the quickness of his observation.
Tales And Novels, Volume 9 (of 10)
Maria Edgeworth

British Dictionary definitions for quickness

quick

adjective

(of an action, movement, etc) performed or occurring during a comparatively short timea quick move

lasting a comparatively short time; briefa quick flight

accomplishing something in a time that is shorter than normala quick worker

characterized by rapidity of movement; swift or fasta quick walker

immediate or prompta quick reply

(postpositive) eager or ready to perform (an action)quick to criticize

responsive to stimulation; perceptive or alert; livelya quick eye

eager or enthusiastic for learninga quick intelligence

easily excited or arouseda quick temper

skilfully swift or nimble in one's movements or actions; deftquick fingers

archaic

alive; living
(as noun)living people (esp in the phrase the quick and the dead)

archaic, or dialect lively or eagera quick dog

(of a fire) burning briskly

composed of living plantsa quick hedge

dialect (of sand) lacking firmness through being wet

quick with child archaic pregnant, esp being in an advanced state of pregnancy, when the movements of the fetus can be felt

noun

any area of living flesh that is highly sensitive to pain or touch, esp that under a toenail or fingernail or around a healing wound

the vital or most important part (of a thing)

short for quickset (def. 1)

cut someone to the quick to hurt someone's feelings deeply; offend gravely

adverb informal

in a rapid or speedy manner; swiftly

soonI hope he comes quick

interjection

a command requiring the hearer to perform an action immediately or in as short a time as possible

Derived Formsquickly, adverbquickness, noun

Word Origin for quick

Old English cwicu living; related to Old Saxon quik, Old High German queck, Old Norse kvikr alive, Latin vīvus alive, Greek bios life

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

Word Origin and History for quickness

c.1200, "state of being alive," from quick (adj.) + -ness. Early 15c. as "alacrity;" mid-15c. as "readiness of perception."

quick

adj.

Old English cwic "living, alive, animate," and figuratively, of mental qualities, "rapid, ready," from Proto-Germanic *kwikwaz (cf. Old Saxon and Old Frisian quik, Old Norse kvikr "living, alive," Dutch kwik "lively, bright, sprightly," Old High German quec "lively," German keck "bold"), from PIE root *gweie- "to live" (see bio-). Sense of "lively, swift" developed by late 12c., on notion of "full of life."

NE swift or the now more common fast may apply to rapid motion of any duration, while in quick (in accordance with its original sense of 'live, lively') there is a notion of 'sudden' or 'soon over.' We speak of a fast horse or runner in a race, a quick starter but not a quick horse. A somewhat similar feeling may distinguish NHG schnell and rasch or it may be more a matter of local preference. [Buck]

Of persons, "mentally active," from late 15c. Also in Middle English used of soft soils, gravel pits, etc. where the ground is shifting and yielding (mid-14c., cf. quicksand). As an adverb from c.1300. To be quick about something is from 1937. Quick buck is from 1946, American English. Quick-change artist (1886) originally was an actor expert in playing different roles in the same performance of a show. Quick-witted is from 1520s.

quick

"living persons," Old English cwic, from quick (adj.); frequently paired with the dead, e.g. Old English cwicum & deadum. The quick "tender part of the flesh" (under a nail, etc.) is from 1520s, as is the figurative use of it.

quickness in Medicine

quick

[kwĭk]

n.

Sensitive or raw exposed flesh, as under the fingernails.

adj.

Pregnant.

Alive.

Idioms and Phrases with quickness

quick

In addition to the idioms beginning with quick

quick and the dead
quick as a wink
quick off the mark
quick one, a
quick on the draw
quick on the uptake

also see:

cut to the quick
(quick) on the uptake