rapid

[ rap-id ]

/ ˈræp ɪd /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR rapid ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective, sometimes rap·id·er, rap·id·est.

occurring within a short time; happening speedily: rapid growth.

moving or acting with great speed; swift: a rapid worker.

characterized by speed: rapid motion.

noun

Usually rapids. a part of a river where the current runs very swiftly.

Nearby words

Origin of rapid

First recorded in 1625–35, rapid is from the Latin word rapidus tearing away, seizing, swift. See rape¹, -id⁴

SYNONYMS FOR rapid

2. See quick.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR rapid ON THESAURUS.COM

Related formsrap·id·ly, adverbul·tra·rap·id, adjectiveul·tra·rap·id·ly, adverb

Can be confusedfast quick rapid swift (see synonym study at quick)

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

Examples from the Web for rapidly

The Newsroom is over, newsrooms as we traditionally understand them are rapidly declining, and New Media is here to stay.
A Few Great Men Too Many: Aaron Sorkin Doesn’t Think You Can Handle the Truth|Arthur Chu|December 21, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Kendrick rapidly chants these last lines in repetition with Bilal and Anna Wise sing-shouting behind him, like a rallying cry.
Kendrick Lamar Shuts Down ‘The Colbert Report’ with Untitled Track|Charlise Ferguson|December 17, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Nearly 85 percent of its population are expats drawn to work in the rapidly growing tax-havens.
Middle East Murder Mystery: Who Killed an American Teacher in Abu Dhabi?|Chris Allbritton|December 3, 2014|DAILY BEAST
But Jeff, who began his foray into pot gastronomy as a hobby, is rapidly turning it into a full-time pot-repreneurial business.
Meet the Julia Child of Weed|Justin Jones|November 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST

And as of late, those places are rapidly growing in numbers.
Meet the Julia Child of Weed|Justin Jones|November 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The display of cowardice was needless, for the Indian rapidly overtracked him.
Menotah|Ernest G. Henham
Not much, but that was a pretty good crack, was Andys reply, as he felt his head where a lump was rapidly rising.
First at the North Pole|Edward Stratemeyer
Rapidly and unerringly the bold strokes grated across the canvas.
Thorley Weir|E. F. (Edward Frederic) Benson
In a few moments he gave an exclamation, and then he came down from the ladder so rapidly that he barely missed falling.
The Great Stone of Sardis|Frank R. Stockton
And rapidly he drew from his waistcoat pocket a piece of paper in which he had placed a light-coloured hair from a woman's head.
The Mystery of the Yellow Room|Gaston Leroux

British Dictionary definitions for rapidly

rapid

/ (ˈræpɪd) /

adjective

(of an action or movement) performed or occurring during a short interval of time; quicka rapid transformation

characterized by high speedrapid movement

acting or moving quickly; fasta rapid worker

Word Origin for rapid

C17: from Latin rapidus tearing away, from rapere to seize; see rape 1

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 rapidly

rapid

adj.

1630s, "moving quickly," from French rapide (17c.) and directly from Latin rapidus "hasty, swift, rapid; snatching; fierce, impetuous," from rapere "hurry away, carry off, seize, plunder," from PIE root *rep- "to snatch" (cf. Greek ereptomai "devour," harpazein "snatch away," Lithuanian raples "tongs"). Meaning "happening in a short time" is from 1780. Related: Rapidly; rapidness. Rapid-transit first attested 1852, in reference to street railways; rapid eye movement is from 1906.

rapid

adjective, sometimes rap·id·er, rap·id·est.

noun

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Origin of rapid

Examples from the Web for rapidly

rapid

adjective

Word Origin for rapid

rapid