Standard Lemma guide

forthwith

adv · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /fɔːθˈwɪð/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /-ˈwɪθ/
  • General-American: /fɔɹθˈwɪθ/
  • General-American: /ˈfɔɹθˌwɪθ/
  • General-American: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ɪð
  • rhymes with -ɪθ
  • CMU ARPABET: F AO1 R TH W IH1 TH Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adv

Meaning 1

Without delay; immediately.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: formal, literary, not-comparable

Topics: law

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: forthwithal, anoon, ASAP, at once, by and by, directly, forthwith, incontinently, instanter, instantly, no sooner said than done, now, on the nail, on the spot, on the spur of the moment, pronto, right away, right now, right off, soon, stat, straightaway, this instant, toot sweet, tout de suite, yesterday

Antonyms: none provided

2

adverb

Meaning 2

without delay or hesitation; with no time intervening

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • he answered immediately
  • found an answer straightaway
  • an official accused of dishonesty should be suspended forthwith
  • Come here now!

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: immediately, instantly, straightaway, straight off, directly, now, right away, at once, like a shot

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From Middle English forth-with (“at once, immediately; at the same time, already; straight ahead”) [and other forms], partly from the phrase forth with (something), and partly from forth-with-al, furth-with-al (“at once, immediately; together with”) (whence forthwithal).

Across languages

Translations

78 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: незабавно (nezabavno) — without delay — see also immediately, right away
  • Bulgarian: веднага (vednaga) — without delay — see also immediately, right away
  • Dutch: terstond — without delay — see also immediately, right away
  • French: aussitôt — without delay — see also immediately, right away
  • French: séance tenante — without delay — see also immediately, right away
  • French: de ce pas — without delay — see also immediately, right away
  • French: tout de suite — without delay — see also immediately, right away
  • French: immédiatement — without delay — see also immediately, right away
  • French: sans délai — without delay — see also immediately, right away
  • French: illico — without delay — see also immediately, right away
  • French: sur le champ — without delay — see also immediately, right away
  • French: sur-le-champ — without delay — see also immediately, right away
  • French: imminemment — without delay — see also immediately, right away
  • German: sofort — without delay — see also immediately, right away
  • German: unverzüglich — without delay — see also immediately, right away
  • German: umgehend — without delay — see also immediately, right away
  • Ancient Greek: εἶθαρ (eîthar) — without delay — see also immediately, right away
  • Ancient Greek: παραχρῆμα (parakhrêma) — without delay — see also immediately, right away
  • Ancient Greek: ἄφαρ (áphar) — without delay — see also immediately, right away
  • Hungarian: azonnal — without delay — see also immediately, right away
  • Hungarian: azon nyomban — without delay — see also immediately, right away
  • Hungarian: haladéktalanul — without delay — see also immediately, right away
  • Hungarian: nyomban — without delay — see also immediately, right away
  • Hungarian: rögtön — without delay — see also immediately, right away
  • Italian: all'istante — without delay — see also immediately, right away
  • Italian: immediatamente — without delay — see also immediately, right away
  • Italian: su due piedi — without delay — see also immediately, right away
  • Italian: tempestivamente — without delay — see also immediately, right away
  • Italian: subito — without delay — see also immediately, right away
  • Italian: in tronco — without delay — see also immediately, right away
  • Italian: lì per lì — without delay — see also immediately, right away
  • Italian: all'improvviso — without delay — see also immediately, right away
  • Italian: improvvisamente — without delay — see also immediately, right away
  • Italian: d'improvviso — without delay — see also immediately, right away
  • Italian: di colpo — without delay — see also immediately, right away
  • Italian: inaspettatamente — without delay — see also immediately, right away
  • Italian: tutto d'un colpo — without delay — see also immediately, right away
  • Latin: cōnfestim — without delay — see also immediately, right away
  • Latin: statim — without delay — see also immediately, right away
  • Latin: extemplō — without delay — see also immediately, right away
  • Latin: continuō — without delay — see also immediately, right away
  • Latin: īlicō — without delay — see also immediately, right away
  • Latin: repente — without delay — see also immediately, right away
  • Latin: raptim — without delay — see also immediately, right away
  • Latin: breviter — without delay — see also immediately, right away
  • Latin: prōtinus — without delay — see also immediately, right away
  • Latin: praestō — without delay — see also immediately, right away
  • Latin: prōmptus — without delay — see also immediately, right away
  • Latin: rapidus — without delay — see also immediately, right away
  • Latin: celer — without delay — see also immediately, right away
  • Latin: vēlōx — without delay — see also immediately, right away
  • Latin: properus — without delay — see also immediately, right away
  • Latin: levis — without delay — see also immediately, right away
  • Māori: tangetange — without delay — see also immediately, right away
  • Norwegian: straks — without delay — see also immediately, right away
  • Occitan: immediatament — without delay — see also immediately, right away
  • Occitan: aitanlèu — without delay — see also immediately, right away
  • Occitan: autanlèu — without delay — see also immediately, right away
  • Plautdietsch: fuaz — without delay — see also immediately, right away
  • Polish: niezwłocznie — without delay — see also immediately, right away
  • Polish: bezzwłocznie — without delay — see also immediately, right away
  • Polish: natychmiast — without delay — see also immediately, right away
  • Polish: natychmiastowo — without delay — see also immediately, right away
  • Polish: od razu — without delay — see also immediately, right away
  • Polish: teraz zaraz — without delay — see also immediately, right away
  • Polish: z mety — without delay — see also immediately, right away
  • Polish: zaraz — without delay — see also immediately, right away
  • Portuguese: imediatamente — without delay — see also immediately, right away
  • Russian: неме́дленно (nemédlenno) — without delay — see also immediately, right away
  • Spanish: inmediatamente — without delay — see also immediately, right away
  • Spanish: enseguida — without delay — see also immediately, right away
  • Spanish: ahora mismo — without delay — see also immediately, right away
  • Swedish: genast — without delay — see also immediately, right away
  • Swedish: med en gång — without delay — see also immediately, right away
  • Swedish: omedelbart — without delay — see also immediately, right away
  • Tagalog: agad-agad — without delay — see also immediately, right away
  • Tagalog: kaagad — without delay — see also immediately, right away
  • Tagalog: kagyat — without delay — see also immediately, right away