quick

[ kwik ]

/ kwɪk /

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See synonyms for: quick / quicker / quickest / quicks 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.

OTHER WORDS FOR quick

1 fleet, expeditious.

5 abrupt, curt, short, precipitate.

7 nimble, agile, brisk.

See synonyms for quick on Thesaurus.com

OPPOSITES FOR quick

1, 10 slow.

See antonyms for quick on Thesaurus.com

QUIZ

SHALL WE PLAY A "SHALL" VS. "SHOULD" CHALLENGE?

Should you take this quiz on “shall” versus “should”? It should prove to be a quick challenge!

Question 1 of 6

Which form is used to state an obligation or duty someone has?

shall

should

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Idioms about quick

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

Origin of quick

First recorded 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-)

synonym study for quick

1. 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. 10. See sharp.

words often confused with quick

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.

OTHER WORDS FROM quick

quickness, nounun·quick, adjectiveun·quick·ly, adverbun·quick·ness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use quick in a sentence

The quick growth of Berkeley came to a fast halt with the San Francisco earthquake of 1906.
Berkeley: A City That Fights for the Rights of All|LGBTQ-Editor|November 20, 2020|No Straight News
It’s more like quick questions that can be solved, and I tend to get quite a lot of that.
Why is GoCardless COO Carlos Gonzalez-Cadenas pivoting to become a full-time VC?|Steve O'Hear|November 20, 2020|TechCrunch
The quick history of Quartz is that the business news publisher was launched in 2012 by co-founders Seward and Kevin Delaney under Atlantic Media with the intention of covering the global economy.
‘A start-up again’: New Quartz owner Zach Seward’s plan for longevity includes revenue innovation and reader support|Kayleigh Barber|November 20, 2020|Digiday
Safari on the MacBook Air is the quickest and snappiest web browsing experience I’ve ever had.
Apple’s M1 chip makes the new MacBook Air shockingly good|Stan Horaczek|November 18, 2020|Popular-Science

After all, if becoming world-class great were quick and easy, everyone would do it.
What businesses slammed by the pandemic can learn from America’s champion car salesman|Geoffrey Colvin|November 17, 2020|Fortune
He weighed only 185 pounds, but he had killer instincts and rabbit quickness and the stamina of a mule.
Football Great Bob Suffridge Wanders Through the End Zone of Life|Paul Hemphill|September 6, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Neurologist Oliver Sacks says the syndrome helps give the Team USA goalie ‘abnormal quickness.’
Why Tourette’s May Be Tim Howard’s Secret Weapon on the Field|Michael Daly|July 3, 2014|DAILY BEAST
“Abnormal quickness,” Sacks told The Daily Beast on Wednesday.
Why Tourette’s May Be Tim Howard’s Secret Weapon on the Field|Michael Daly|July 3, 2014|DAILY BEAST
“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|DAILY BEAST
But questionable defense and lack of explosiveness and lateral quickness may cause Fredette to "fredette about it."
March Madness Race Wars and Jimmer Fredette|Buzz Bissinger|March 22, 2011|DAILY BEAST
The sharpened faculties have something of a lawyer's quickness in detecting a flaw in the indictment.
Children's Ways|James Sully
Born on March 29, 1769, he early distinguished himself by his precocity and his quickness of perception.
Napoleon's Marshals|R. P. Dunn-Pattison
His linguistic cleverness was a fair specimen of his general quickness of intellect.
Overland|John William De Forest
Anxiety for the fate of a purse full of gold Napoleons of forty francs each gave redoubled quickness to his steps.
Minnie's Pet Dog|Madeline Leslie
Among the former are acuteness and quickness of vision, the power of grasping complex subjects, and a good memory.
Frederick Chopin as a Man and Musician|Frederick Niecks

British Dictionary definitions for quick

quick

/ (kwɪk) /

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 forms of quick

quickly, 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

Medical definitions for quick

quick

[ kwĭk ]

Sensitive or raw exposed flesh, as under the fingernails.

adj.

Pregnant.

Alive.

Other Idioms and Phrases with quick

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

quick

OTHER WORDS FOR quick

OPPOSITES FOR quick

Idioms about quick

Origin of quick

synonym study for quick

words often confused with quick

OTHER WORDS FROM quick

Words related to quick

How to use quick in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for quick

Derived forms of quick

Word Origin for quick

Medical definitions for quick

Other Idioms and Phrases with quick