Meanings
- not comparableimmediately; instantly; without delay.
"They're another reason why I've got to get my girl and start instanter.
1932, Delos W. Lovelace, King Kong, published 1965, page 82 more examples
They lifted him onto the deck where he lay in his wet seersucker suit and his lemoncolored socks, leering walleyed up at the workers with the hook in his face like some gross water homunculus taken in trolling that the light of God's day had stricken dead instanter.
1979, Cormac McCarthy, Suttree, Random House, page 9I cleared my throat & bade all good morning, at which our amicable captain swore, 'You can better my morning, by b—ing off, instanter!'
2004, David Mitchell, Cloud Atlas, London: Sceptre (Hodder and Stoughton), →ISBN
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
- Medieval Latinīnstanter“immediately”
- Englishinstanter
Unadapted borrowing from Medieval Latin īnstanter (“immediately”), originally “vehemently” in Classical Latin.
More words from Medieval Latin
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
instanter. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/instanter
“instanter.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/instanter. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “instanter,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/instanter.
Source: instanter on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.