Standard Lemma guide

quickness

noun · 4 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.

  • /ˈkwɪknəs/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ɪknəs
  • CMU ARPABET: K W IH1 K N AH0 S Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

rapidity of movement or activity; agility or dexterity

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Examples

  • The quickness of the hand deceives the eye.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

a rate that is rapid

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: celerity, rapidity, rapidness, speediness

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: pace, rate

Narrower terms: fleetness, immediacy, immediateness, instantaneousness, instancy, dispatch, despatch, expedition, expeditiousness, promptness, promptitude

3

noun

Meaning 3

intelligence as revealed by an ability to give correct responses without delay

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: mental quickness, quick-wittedness

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: intelligence

4

noun

Meaning 4

skillful performance or ability without difficulty

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • his quick adeptness was a product of good design
  • he was famous for his facility as an archer

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: adeptness, adroitness, deftness, facility

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: skillfulness

Narrower terms: touch, dexterity, manual dexterity, sleight

History

Etymology

From Middle English quiknes, qwiknes, quyknesse, cwicnesse, equivalent to quick + -ness.

Across languages

Translations

39 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: бързина (bǎrzina) — rapidity of movement or activity
  • Chinese Mandarin: 迅速 (xùnsù) — rapidity of movement or activity
  • Esperanto: rapideco — rapidity of movement or activity
  • Finnish: nopeus — rapidity of movement or activity
  • Finnish: vikkelyys — rapidity of movement or activity
  • French: rapidité — rapidity of movement or activity
  • Georgian: სიჩქარე (sičkare) — rapidity of movement or activity
  • Georgian: სისწრაფე (sisc̣rape) — rapidity of movement or activity
  • German: Schnelligkeit — rapidity of movement or activity
  • Ancient Greek: τάχος (tákhos) — rapidity of movement or activity
  • Ancient Greek: ταχυτής (takhutḗs) — rapidity of movement or activity
  • Ancient Greek: ὠκυτής (ōkutḗs) — rapidity of movement or activity
  • Hungarian: gyorsaság — rapidity of movement or activity
  • Ido: rapideso — rapidity of movement or activity
  • Irish: éascaíocht — rapidity of movement or activity
  • Irish: aibéil — rapidity of movement or activity
  • Italian: rapidità — rapidity of movement or activity
  • Japanese: 速さ (hayasa) — rapidity of movement or activity
  • Latvian: ašums — rapidity of movement or activity
  • Macedonian: бр́зина (bŕzina) — rapidity of movement or activity
  • Old English: hrædnes — rapidity of movement or activity
  • Plautdietsch: Schwindichkjeit — rapidity of movement or activity
  • Polish: prędkość — rapidity of movement or activity
  • Portuguese: rapidez — rapidity of movement or activity
  • Russian: быстрота́ (bystrotá) — rapidity of movement or activity
  • Russian: стреми́тельность (stremítelʹnostʹ) — rapidity of movement or activity
  • Sanskrit: जव (java) — rapidity of movement or activity
  • Sanskrit: जुवस् (juvas) — rapidity of movement or activity
  • Serbo-Croatian: хи̏тро̄ст — rapidity of movement or activity
  • Serbo-Croatian: hȉtrōst — rapidity of movement or activity
  • Spanish: rapidez — rapidity of movement or activity
  • Spanish: festinación — rapidity of movement or activity
  • Spanish: celeridad — rapidity of movement or activity
  • Spanish: priesa — rapidity of movement or activity
  • Turkish: hız — rapidity of movement or activity
  • Turkish: hızlılık — rapidity of movement or activity
  • Turkish: çabukluk — rapidity of movement or activity
  • Uyghur: ئىلداملىق (ildamliq) — rapidity of movement or activity
  • Uyghur: تېزلىك (tëzlik) — rapidity of movement or activity