prompt

American  

[prompt] / prɒmpt /

adjective

prompter, promptest

1. done, performed, delivered, etc., at once or without delay.

   I emailed them asking about my package and they gave a prompt reply.

2. ready in action; quick to act as occasion demands.

   They were trained to be prompt and competent for any emergency.

3. quick or alert.

   You're too prompt to take offense.

4. punctual.

   She's never prompt in arriving for work, yet she's always the first to leave at the end of the day.

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verb (used with object)

• prompts,
  present (3rd person singular)
• prompted,
  past participle,  past
• prompting
  present participle

1. to move or induce to action.

   What prompted you to say that?

   Synonyms:

   impel, instigate, spur, urge

2. to occasion or incite; inspire.

   What prompted his resignation?

3. to assist (a person speaking) by suggesting something to be said.

   It's obvious that this witness has been prompted into giving false testimony.

4. Theater. to supply (an actor, singer, etc.) from offstage with a missed cue or forgotten line.

   I focused on prompting our Cyrano, who had become strangely disoriented.

5. Computers. (of a computer system) to send a message or symbol to (a user) requesting information or instructions, usually by displaying the message or symbol on a screen.

   Once the home page has loaded, the computer will prompt you to log in to your account.

6. Computers, Digital Technology. to request particular output from (a machine learning algorithm) by means of instructions, questions, examples, context, or other input.

verb (used without object)

• prompts,
  present (3rd person singular)
• prompted,
  past participle,  past
• prompting
  present participle

1. Theater. to supply forgotten lines, lyrics, or the like to an actor, singer, etc..

   I've got a one-line walk-on in the first scene, but for the rest of the play, I'll be prompting.

noun

• prompts
  plural

1. the act of prompting.

2. something serving to suggest or remind.

   They send an email once a month, which is just the prompt I need to pay my bill on time.

3. Commerce.

   1. a limit of time given for payment for merchandise purchased, the limit being stated on a note of reminder prompt note.

   2. the contract setting the time limit.

4. Computers. a message or symbol from a computer system to a user, generally appearing on a display screen, requesting more information or indicating that the system is ready for user instructions.

   When the prompt appears, provide your access code.

5. Computers, Digital Technology. a sequence of inputs, often containing instructions, questions, examples, or context, used to request particular output from a machine learning algorithm.

idioms

1. take a prompt, (in acting) to move or speak in response to a cue.

prompt British  

/ prɒmpt /

adjective

1. performed or executed without delay

2. quick or ready to act or respond

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adverb

1. informal punctually

verb

1. (tr) to urge (someone to do something)

2. to remind (an actor, singer, etc) of lines forgotten during a performance

3. (tr) to refresh the memory of

4. (tr) to give rise to by suggestion

   his affairs will prompt discussion

noun

1. commerce

   1. the time limit allowed for payment of the debt incurred by purchasing goods or services on credit

   2. the contract specifying this time limit

   3. Also called: prompt note.  a memorandum sent to a purchaser to remind him of the time limit and the sum due

2. the act of prompting

3. anything that serves to remind

4. an aid to the operator of a computer in the form of a question or statement that appears on the screen showing that the equipment is ready to proceed and indicating the options available

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• promptness
  noun
• overprompt
  adjective
• quasi-prompt
  adjective
• unprompt
  adjective
• promptly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• prompts
  plural

Participles

• prompting
  present
• prompted
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• prompt
  simple
• prompts
  simple
• have prompted
  perfect
• has prompted
  perfect
• am prompting
  progressive
• are prompting
  progressive
• is prompting
  progressive
• have been prompting
  perfect progressive
• has been prompting
  perfect progressive

Past

• prompted
  simple
• had prompted
  perfect
• was prompting
  progressive
• were prompting
  progressive
• had been prompting
  perfect progressive

Future

• will prompt
  simple
• will have prompted
  perfect
• will be prompting
  progressive
• will have been prompting
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of prompt

First recorded in 1400–50; Middle English prompte “ready, eager” (adjective), prompten (verb), both ultimately from Latin promptus “manifest, at hand, ready, quick, prepared,” adjective use of past participle of prōmere “to bring forth, deliver, set forth,” from prō- pro- ¹ + (e)mere “to buy, obtain, take”

Explanation

If you're prompt, you're on time. Go ahead and be prompt to class. Also, to prompt is to inspire or make happen. Getting in trouble for being late should prompt you to get a better alarm clock. The adjective prompt can mean "as scheduled," or simply "quick." When you prompt someone, you motivate them in some way: you might offer a reminder, assistance, or even inspiration to do something. For example, honking your car horn prompts your friend to get moving, and speaking up in defense of your classmate might prompt a bully to change his ways. If a director prompts an actor who's forgotten his lines, she reminds him what comes next.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

prompt prompts prompter promptest prompted prompting

BALTIMORE—With its boarded-up windows and peeling facade, the vacant building didn’t seem like the kind of house that would prompt a bidding war.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026

"Major rainfall flooding may prompt many evacuations and rescues," the NWS said, adding that rivers and tributaries "may rapidly overflow their banks in multiple places".

From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026

When the high court will rule is unclear, though the emergency nature of the appeal calls for a prompt response.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026

Pope Leo XIV was "deeply saddened" and "raises his prayers to the Lord for the prompt recovery of those affected by this tragedy," the Vatican said Tuesday.

From Barron's ● Aug. 11, 2026

It was true that idioms and nuances and dialects often eluded him in Igbo, but the directorate was always too prompt in sending interpreters.

From "Half of a Yellow Sun" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Because AT&T uses an average of 45 billion AI tokens each day, directing user prompts toward cheaper models makes an impact, Markus said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026

Wiener’s campaign said the chatbot was created with “strict guardrails” and designed to ignore controversial and malicious prompts and pivot back to Chan’s policy record.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026

Companies also needed to be much more precise with their prompts, says Rob Steele, CFO at UK accounting software firm iplicit.

From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2026

These credentials are meant to help workers prove they have skills like devising effective prompts or using AI for business strategy.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 31, 2026

“Is there any way you went hear things you never hear before?” she prompts.

From "Clairboyance" by Kristiana Kahakauwila

Those accounts accused Harris of making use of the prompter to answer questions from the audience, asked in English and Spanish, causing Univision producers to set the record straight late Thursday night.

From Salon ● Oct. 11, 2024

I'd like to see how she performs more off the cuff and without an ability to read from the prompter.

From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2024

“Now they’re back safely in their joke holes, doing what they do best: making my prompter word screen full of good and haha.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 2023

He would read anything that was on the prompter, and he delivered the jokes really well.

From New York Times ● Jul. 21, 2021

Gold to him was a living force, the origin of all his strength and evil, the prompter of his actions.

From Treasure of Kings Being the Story of the Discovery of the \"Big Fish,\" or the Quest of the Greater Treasure of the Incas of Peru. by Charles Gilson

The day Yastrzemski steps out, museum curators will mark him for promptest delivery.

From Time Magazine Archive

The Federal Reserve Board's first credit-easing step, in May 1953, "was the promptest response to an economic decline ever taken by a central bank in any country."

From Time Magazine Archive

Needed: "Additional and improved bombers, airborne alert, more missiles of existing types, speeded production of Polaris submarines, the promptest possible dispersal and hardening of bases, and a program for civil defense."

From Time Magazine Archive

Now, if ever, was the time for his promptest action, and with Winn thought and action went hand in hand.

From Raftmates A Story of the Great River by Kirk Munroe

It was so much to have actually started her ball rolling; and, at the moment, it seemed that Uncle Paul must send it bounding back in the promptest and most delightful of letters.

From The S. W. F. Club by Caroline E. (Caroline Elliott Hoogs) Jacobs

Arday, the professor of sociology of education at the prestigious university in eastern England, resigned August 5 after accusations he had plagiarised parts of his doctoral thesis and exaggerated personal achievements prompted a media storm.

From Barron's ● Aug. 17, 2026

Recent weak jobs data and subdued inflation data prompted markets to trim rate rise bets.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026

Ballet flats are back in vogue, and that’s prompted some unlikely companies to hop on the bandwagon with their own riffs on the classic shoe silhouette.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 15, 2026

The singer's death has prompted an outpouring of condolences, with the community council organising a book of memories at the Ostreme centre.

From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026

To make matters worse, the debate over the treaty prompted a constitutional crisis.

From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis

Some routinely put on a show: NYC0318, a whale also seen by AFP on a recent outing, often charms whale watchers with sensational lunge-feeds, breaching the water and prompting shrieks of delight.

From Barron's ● Aug. 18, 2026

By prompting nerve growth inside the tumor, the process may contribute to cancer progression and resistance to treatment.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 17, 2026

Musk has already begun clearing land in the area, prompting some residents to make difficult decisions about whether they’ll stay or go.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 17, 2026

Sales at U.S. retailers slid in July, the latest in a string of weaker reports prompting a rethink about an economy that had looked to be only accelerating this spring.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026

She didn’t press me to get too personal, but she encouraged me to keep talking with tiny dips of her head and prompting comments: “And then?”

From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu

Related Words

• arouse
• cause
• convince
• draw
• elicit
• help
• indicate
• induce
• inspire
• motivate
• persuade
• propel
• provoke
• spur
• stimulate
• suggest
• urge