hurry
Americanverb (used without object)
-
hurries,
present (3rd person singular)
-
hurried,
past participle, past
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hurrying
present participle
verb (used with object)
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hurries,
present (3rd person singular)
-
hurried,
past participle, past
-
hurrying
present participle
noun
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hurries
plural
-
a state of urgency or eagerness.
to be in a hurry to meet a train.
-
hurried movement or action; haste.
- Antonyms:
- deliberation
verb
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to hasten (to do something); rush
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to speed up the completion, progress, etc, of
noun
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haste
-
urgency or eagerness
-
informal
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easily
you won't beat him in a hurry
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willingly
we won't go there again in a hurry
-
Synonym Usage
See rush 1.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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hurrysimple
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hurriessimple
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have hurriedperfect
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has hurriedperfect
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am hurryingprogressive
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are hurryingprogressive
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is hurryingprogressive
-
have been hurryingperfect progressive
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has been hurryingperfect progressive
Past
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hurriedsimple
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had hurriedperfect
-
was hurryingprogressive
-
were hurryingprogressive
-
had been hurryingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of hurry
First recorded in 1580–90; expressive word of uncertain origin, compare Middle English horyed (attested once) “rushed, impelled,” Middle High German hurren “to move quickly”
Explanation
To hurry is to rush, or to move quickly. If you're late for a movie and you don't want to miss the beginning, you'll have to hurry into the theater, not stopping to buy popcorn. When you're out for a walk and the sun begins to set, you might hurry home before it gets dark — in other words, move rapidly, or in haste. You can also hurry someone else, encouraging them to speed up. Your math teacher may criticize your sloppy work by commenting, "Looks like you were in a hurry." Hurry is one of many words that were invented by William Shakespeare, who used it frequently.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Around the station, people who are still waiting for trains hurry to a pedestrian underpass that doubles as a shelter.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 4, 2026
In Zvirynets—once the hunting grounds of medieval princes, now a leafy upscale neighborhood—residents hurry to the subway station.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 4, 2026
Le Monde said Starmer's successor Andy Burnham had pressed Macron during talks in September to keep the deal alive but "Paris was in a hurry to end the cooperation on controlling migrant flows."
From Barron's ● Sep. 30, 2026
After that, USC — seemingly in no particular hurry — ran 13 more plays, none of them resulting in a gain longer than 16 yards.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 27, 2026
I promise to fill her in later, and we hurry to first period.
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
Running 83 minutes, the movie is Mr. Hara and Ms. Kobayashi’s shortest effort in this set, yet it hurries nothing, its proud participants detailing their daily challenges and hopes for societal accommodations.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026
The man hurries off to do his shopping, soundtracked by pneumatic drills and ripped up concrete - noises many Glaswegians are currently very familiar with.
From BBC ● Jul. 16, 2026
They are tied for sixth with 98 quarterback pressures and seventh with 37 quarterback hurries.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 22, 2025
Each hurries forth into the night, headed somewhere we can’t possibly know in a world full of uncertainty.
From Salon ● Jan. 25, 2025
Joinville hurries to his knee beside the king.
From "The Inquisitor's Tale" by Adam Gidwitz
Procedures can be hurried to meet certain deadlines, like the end of a league season.
From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2026
“There’s a degree of anxiety, especially those who were hurried out of their homes at dawn,” said Mike Evemy, leader of the local district council.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 2026
Despite Bonta’s lawsuit, Nexstar hurried the next day to finalize its purchase of Virginia-based Tegna and swallow the operation.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
Now it means not being hurried, spending time with my family, control over my schedule, and intellectual independence.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 9, 2026
Before we went, though, I checked on Lorren’s book—it was unharmed—and then we hurried across the street.
From "Bye Forever, I Guess" by Jodi Meadows
So they had; and so they did the transcontinental, battering it through the high passes of the Sierra Nevada and then, far more quickly, hurrying toward the head of the Union Pacific’s tracks.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026
The following day, a 30-year-old ski patroller named Cole Murphy was with a team of colleagues hurrying to clear the freshly fallen snow from a series of expert slopes known, appropriately, as the Avalanche Chutes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 6, 2026
Hamstring injuries are finicky, especially for a mobile quarterback, and hurrying back from one is never smart.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2025
We’re most vulnerable when we’re hurrying to check things off the to-do list and get a good deal, especially one too good to be true.
From Salon ● Dec. 21, 2024
Before he could finish, Coll came hurrying up and whispered that Dallben would like to see him privately.
From "The Book of Three" by Lloyd Alexander
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