Phrase guide

lightning fast

adj · 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.

  • Australia: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Extremely fast, fast as lightning.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: idiomatic, not-comparable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: fulgurant, lightning-quick, quick as a flash, in a flash

Antonyms: none provided

2

adv

Meaning 2

Extremely quickly.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: idiomatic, not-comparable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: quick as a flash, in a flash, lightningly

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

32 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Danish: lynhurtig — fast as lightning
  • Dutch: bliksemsnel — fast as lightning
  • Esperanto: fulmrapida — fast as lightning
  • Finnish: salamannopea — fast as lightning
  • French: éclair — fast as lightning
  • French: foudroyant — fast as lightning
  • French: rapide comme l'éclair — fast as lightning
  • Galician: lixeiro coma un lóstrego — fast as lightning
  • German: blitzschnell — fast as lightning
  • German: blitzgeschwind — fast as lightning
  • German: blitzartig — fast as lightning
  • Greek: κεραυνοβόλος (keravnovólos) — fast as lightning
  • Greek: αστραπιαίος (astrapiaíos) — fast as lightning
  • Ancient Greek: ἀελλόπος (aellópos) — fast as lightning
  • Hungarian: villámgyors — fast as lightning
  • Interlingua: fulminee — fast as lightning
  • Italian: fulmineo — fast as lightning
  • Italian: veloce come un fulmine — fast as lightning
  • Italian: veloce come un lampo — fast as lightning
  • Macedonian: молневит (molnevit) — fast as lightning
  • Norwegian Bokmål: lynrask — fast as lightning
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: lynrask — fast as lightning
  • Polish: błyskawiczny — fast as lightning
  • Polish: błyskawicowy — fast as lightning
  • Russian: молниено́сный (molnijenósnyj) — fast as lightning
  • Northern Sami: dolalaš — fast as lightning
  • Serbo-Croatian: муњѐвит — fast as lightning
  • Serbo-Croatian: munjèvit — fast as lightning
  • Spanish: fulminante — fast as lightning
  • Swedish: blixtsnabb — fast as lightning
  • Ukrainian: блискави́чний (blyskavýčnyj) — fast as lightning
  • Vietnamese: chớp nhoáng — fast as lightning