Meanings
- not comparableWithout any delay; in an instantaneous manner.
How quick the eye and hand to catch him [the ruffed grouse] when he rises from the underbrush and is out of sight in the wood before the untrained sportsman stops him with what is little more than a snapshot, so instantaneously must all be done!
1892, Stanley Waterloo, A Man and a Woman1 more example
Under the guise of being “online” and capable of disseminating news instantaneously (known colloquially as “retweeting”), being active on Twitter, for media workers, gives the effect of fulfilling one’s occupational duty as well as all the parts of professional upkeep that, in the physical world, involve being in the right rooms, overhearing the right things, and more or less maintaining appearances.
2022 April 14, Delia Cai, “Severance, the New York Times’s Twitter Guidelines, and the Forever Illusion of Work-Life Balance”, in Vanity FairSynonyms: immediately, in a flash, instantly, outright, right now
Synonyms & antonyms
adverbWithout any delay; in an instantaneous manner.
More synonyms by meaning
adverbwithout any delay
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*énu
- Latinin-
- Latinstō
- Latinīnstō
- Latinīnstantem
- New Latinīnstāntāneus
- Englishinstantaneous
- Englishinstantaneously
From instantaneous + -ly.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic آنِيًا
- آنِيًا (ʔāniyan)Without any delay
Catalan instantàniament
- instantàniamentWithout any delay
Dutch ogenblikkelijk
- ogenblikkelijkWithout any delay
Finnish välittömästi, heti
- välittömästiWithout any delay
- hetiWithout any delay
French instantanément
- instantanémentWithout any delay
German augenblicklich, im Nu
- augenblicklichWithout any delay
- im NuWithout any delay
Italian istantaneamente
- istantaneamenteWithout any delay
Portuguese instantaneamente
- instantaneamenteWithout any delay
Russian мгнове́нно
- мгнове́нно (mgnovénno)Without any delay
Spanish instantáneamente
- instantáneamenteWithout any delay
Urdu فوراً
- فوراً (fauran)Without any delay
Cite this entry
instantaneously. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/instantaneously
“instantaneously.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/instantaneously. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “instantaneously,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/instantaneously.
Source: instantaneously on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.