Meanings
- idiomaticImmediately; instantaneously.
Father, come, ile take my leaue of the Iew in the twinkling of an eye.
c. 1596–1598 (date written), W[illiam] Shakespeare, The Excellent History of the Merchant of Venice. […] (First Quarto), [London]: […] J[ames] Roberts [for Thomas Heyes], published 1600, →OCLC, [Act II, scene ii]1 more example
All my dreams for him have been cut short in the twinkling of an eye. Why was my son murdered?
2007 April 28, Hugh Muir, The GuardianSynonyms: in the blink of an eye, in the wink of an eye
Synonyms & antonyms
prepositional phraseImmediately; instantaneously.
Origin
- Middle Englishin the twynklyng of an iȝe
- Englishin the twinkling of an eye
From Middle English in the twynklyng of an iȝe, in þe twynklynk of an eiȝe, from the Bible, 1 Corinthians 15:52: We shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
in the twinkling of an eye. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/in%20the%20twinkling%20of%20an%20eye
“in the twinkling of an eye.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/in%20the%20twinkling%20of%20an%20eye. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “in the twinkling of an eye,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/in%20the%20twinkling%20of%20an%20eye.
Source: in the twinkling of an eye on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.