straightaway

1 of 3

adverb

straight·​away ˌstrāt-ə-ˈwā 

: without hesitation or delay

straightaway

2 of 3

adjective

straight·​away ˈstrāt-ə-ˌwā 

1

: proceeding in a straight line : continuous in direction

2

: immediate

straightaway

3 of 3

noun

straight·​away ˈstrā-tə-ˌwā 

: a straight course: such as

a

: the straight part of a closed racecourse : stretch

b

: a straight and unimpeded stretch of road or way

Synonyms

Adverb

• bang
• directly
• forthwith
• headlong
• immediately
• incontinently
• instantaneously
• instanter
• instantly
• now
• PDQ
• plumb
• presently
• promptly
• pronto
• right
• right away
• right now
• right off
• straight off
• straightway

Adjective

• immediate
• instant
• instantaneous
• split-second

Examples of straightaway in a Sentence

Adverb

He found the information straightaway.

he got to the hospital, and straightaway he was admitted and given intravenous fluids

Adjective

her first novel was a straightaway success

the doomed ship was headed on a straightaway course in the path of the iceberg

Recent Examples on the Web

Adverb

My ideal scenario starts with going into a used bookstore and finding something wonderful by pure serendipity, then taking it off somewhere to start reading it straightaway. —New York Times, 30 Mar. 2023

The ornithologists realized straightaway that many birds in the training data set had been misclassified because of the crowdsourced workers’ limited ornithological knowledge. —Dan Greene, IEEE Spectrum, 21 Nov. 2018

Word History

First Known Use

Adverb

1662, in the meaning defined above

Adjective

1874, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun

1878, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

straightaway

1 of 3 adjective

straight·​away ˈstrāt-ə-ˌwā 

1

: proceeding in a straight line : continuous in direction : straightforward

2

: immediate sense 4

made a straightaway reply

straightaway

2 of 3 noun

: the straight part of a racetrack : stretch

straightaway

3 of 3 adverb

straight·​away ˌstrāt-ə-ˈwā 

: without delay : immediately

found an answer straightaway