Standard Lemma guide

swiftly

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

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  • /ˈswɪftli/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: S W IH1 F T L IY0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adv

Meaning 1

In a swift manner; quickly; with quick motion or velocity; fleetly.

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

in a swift manner

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • she moved swiftly

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: fleetly

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From Middle English swiftly, swyftely, swiftliche, from Old English swiftlīċe (“swiftly”), equivalent to swift + -ly.

Across languages

Translations

19 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: бързо (bǎrzo) — quickly
  • Catalan: ràpidament — quickly
  • Esperanto: rapide — quickly
  • Finnish: vikkelästi — quickly
  • Finnish: nopeasti — quickly
  • Galician: lixeiro — quickly
  • German: schnell — quickly
  • German: flink — quickly
  • German: behände — quickly
  • Ancient Greek: θοῶς (thoôs) — quickly
  • Latin: celeriter — quickly
  • Latin: velociter — quickly
  • Navajo: hah — quickly
  • Plautdietsch: fluks — quickly
  • Polish: prędko — quickly
  • Polish: szybko — quickly
  • Portuguese: ligeiro — quickly
  • Sanskrit: आशु (āśu) — quickly
  • Spanish: rápidamente — quickly