expeditious

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/ɛkspɪˈdɪʃəs/

adjective

Fast, prompt, speedy.

“Near-synonym: expedited”

Less commonFirst used 1590sScrabble 21

Meanings

adjectiveexpeditious (comparative more expeditious, superlative most expeditious)

comparative more expeditious · superlative most expeditious

  1. Fast, prompt, speedy.First known use 1590s

    Near-synonym: expedited

    2 more examples

    Our coachman and horses are so extremely expeditious!—I believe we drive faster than anybody.

    1815 December (indicated as 1816), [Jane Austen], chapter II, in Emma: […], volume III, London: […] [Charles Roworth and James Moyes] for John Murray, →OCLC, page 15

    An “expeditious cessation of hostilities” is essential to “stabilise European economies, prevent unintended escalation or expansion of the war and re-establish strategic stability with Russia”, the document says.

    2025 December 6, “US security strategy urges ‘resistance’ to Europe and shrugs off Russian threat”, in FT Weekend, London: The Financial Times Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 1

    Synonyms: expedited

  2. Completed or done with efficiency and speed; facilitating speed.

    Near-synonym: expedited

    2 more examples

    As they thus pressed forward, longing doubtless to exchange the easy curving line, which the sinuosities of the bay compelled them to adopt, for a straiter and more expeditious path, though less conformable to the line of beauty, Sir Arthur observed a human figure on the beach advancing to meet them.

    1816, [Walter Scott], chapter VII, in The Antiquary. […], volume I, Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, →OCLC, page 153

    Now, there was a sort of rough-and-ready law in Ireland in those days which was of great convenience to persons desirous of expeditious justice[…].

    1844 January–December, W[illiam] M[akepeace] Thackeray, “I return to Ireland, and exhibit my splendour and generosity in that kingdom”, in “The Memoirs of Barry Lyndon, Esq. [The Luck of Barry Lyndon.]”, in Miscellanies: Prose and Verse, volume III, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1856, →OCLC, page 199

    Synonyms: expedited

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectiveFast, prompt, speedy.

Similar

adjectiveCompleted or done with efficiency and speed; facilitating speed.

Similar

More synonyms by meaning

adjectivemarked by speed and efficiency

Similar

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Latinexpedītus“disengaged, ready, convenient, prompt; unfettered, unencumbered”
  2. Middle Englishexpedycius“useful, fitting”
  3. Englishexpeditious

From Middle English expedycius (“useful, fitting”), from Latin expedītus (“disengaged, ready, convenient, prompt; unfettered, unencumbered”), past participle of expediō.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian бърз, експедитивен
  • бърз (bărz)Fast, prompt, speedy
  • експедитивен (ekspeditiven)Fast, prompt, speedy
Finnish joutuisa, pikainen
  • joutuisaFast, prompt, speedy
  • pikainenFast, prompt, speedy
German schnell, zügig
  • schnellFast, prompt, speedy
  • zügigFast, prompt, speedy
Italian veloce, rapido
  • veloceFast, prompt, speedy
  • rapidoFast, prompt, speedy
  • tempestivoFast, prompt, speedy
Spanish eficiente, rapido
  • eficienteFast, prompt, speedy
  • rapidoFast, prompt, speedy
Cite this entry
APA

expeditious. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/expeditious

MLA

“expeditious.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/expeditious. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “expeditious,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/expeditious.

Source: expeditious on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.