Standard Lemma guide

speedily

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.

  • /ˈspiːdɪli/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: S P IY1 D AH0 L IY0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adv

Meaning 1

In a speedy or fast manner.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adverb

Meaning 2

with rapid movements

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • he works quickly

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: quickly, rapidly, chop-chop, apace

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From Middle English spedily, spedili, from Old English *spēdiġlīċe, ġespēdiġlīċe (“prosperously”), equivalent to speedy + -ly. Cognate with Scots spedely, spedelie (“quickly, speedily”). Compare also Old English spēdlīċe (“effectually, effectively, successfully, efficaciously, powerfully, in a manner which produces a result”).

Across languages

Translations

3 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: бързо (bǎrzo) — in a speedy or fast manner
  • Bulgarian: незабавно (nezabavno) — in a speedy or fast manner
  • Sanskrit: मक्षू (makṣū) — in a speedy or fast manner