Meanings
adjectivenow-or-never (not comparable)
- not comparableOf a need for a decision, an opportunity, etc.: arising at the present time and requiring action to be taken immediately, or not at all.
Margaret knew what it was to expect her visitors to return ‘in one moment,’ and with a ‘now-or-never’ feeling she began, ‘Ethel dear, wait,’ but Ethel was too impetuous to attend.
1856, [Charlotte Mary Yonge], chapter XIV, in The Daisy Chain; or, Aspirations. A Family Chronicle. […], London: John W[illiam] Parker and Son, […], →OCLC, part I, page 133
Origin
From now or never (adverb).
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Finnish nyt tai ei koskaan
- nyt tai ei koskaanarising at the present time and requiring action to be taken immediately, or not at all
Polish natychmiastowy
- natychmiastowyarising at the present time and requiring action to be taken immediately, or not at all
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with now-or-never
howevernevereverwhateverforeverwheneverwherevercleverwhatsoeverwhoeverleverTrevorwhicheverendeavorendeavourwhomeverseverwhosoeverwhomsoeverhowsoeverwheresoeverwhithersoevernow or nevertherever
All rhymes →Cite this entry
APA
now-or-never. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/now-or-never
MLA
“now-or-never.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/now-or-never. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “now-or-never,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/now-or-never.
Source: now-or-never on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.