quick

[ kwik ]
See synonyms for: quickquickerquickestquicks on Thesaurus.com
adjective,quick·er, quick·est.

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

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

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

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

  3. easily provoked or excited; hasty: a quick temper.

  4. keenly responsive; lively; acute: a quick wit.

  5. acting with swiftness or rapidity: a quick worker.

  6. prompt or swift to do something: quick to respond.

  7. prompt to perceive; sensitive: a quick eye.

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

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

  10. consisting of living plants: a quick pot of flowers.

  11. brisk, as fire, flames, heat, etc.

  12. Archaic.

    • endowed with life.

    • having a high degree of vigor, energy, or activity.

noun

  1. living persons: the quick and the dead.

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

  1. the vital or most important part.

  2. 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.

  1. quickly.

Idioms about quick

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

Origin of quick

1
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.

confusables note For 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 for quick

Opposites for quick

Other words from quick

  • quickness, noun
  • un·quick, adjective
  • un·quick·ly, adverb
  • un·quick·ness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use quick in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for quick

quick

/ (kwɪk) /

adjective

  1. (of an action, movement, etc) performed or occurring during a comparatively short time: a quick move

  2. lasting a comparatively short time; brief: a quick flight

  1. accomplishing something in a time that is shorter than normal: a quick worker

  2. characterized by rapidity of movement; swift or fast: a quick walker

  3. immediate or prompt: a quick reply

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

  5. responsive to stimulation; perceptive or alert; lively: a quick eye

  6. eager or enthusiastic for learning: a quick intelligence

  7. easily excited or aroused: a quick temper

  8. skilfully swift or nimble in one's movements or actions; deft: quick fingers

  9. archaic

    • alive; living

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

  10. archaic, or dialect lively or eager: a quick dog

  11. (of a fire) burning briskly

  12. composed of living plants: a quick hedge

  13. dialect (of sand) lacking firmness through being wet

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

noun

  1. 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

  2. the vital or most important part (of a thing)

  1. short for quickset (def. 1)

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

adverbinformal

  1. in a rapid or speedy manner; swiftly

  2. soon: I hope he comes quick

interjection

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

Origin of quick

1
Old English cwicu living; related to Old Saxon quik, Old High German queck, Old Norse kvikr alive, Latin vīvus alive, Greek bios life

Derived forms of quick

  • quickly, adverb
  • quickness, noun

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

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

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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