hastier; hastiest
1
a
: done or made in a hurry
hasty city-street snapshotsR. B. Heilman
b
: fast and typically superficial
made a hasty examination of the wound
c
archaic : rapid in action or movement : speedy
2
: acting too quickly : overly eager or impatient
realized he had been hasty in quitting his job
3
: exhibiting a lack of careful thought or consideration : precipitate, rash
We don't want to make any hasty decisions.
4
: prone to anger : irritable
a hasty temperament
hastiness noun
Choose the Right Synonym for hasty

fast, rapid, swift, fleet, quick, speedy, hasty, expeditious mean moving, proceeding, or acting with celerity.

fast and rapid are very close in meaning, but fast applies particularly to the thing that moves

fast horses

and rapid to the movement itself.

rapid current

swift suggests great rapidity coupled with ease of movement.

returned the ball with one swift stroke

fleet adds the implication of lightness and nimbleness.

fleet runners

quick suggests promptness and the taking of little time.

a quick wit

speedy implies quickness of successful accomplishment

speedy delivery of mail

and may also suggest unusual velocity.

hasty suggests hurry and precipitousness and often connotes carelessness.

a hasty inspection

expeditious suggests efficiency together with rapidity of accomplishment.

the expeditious handling of an order

Examples of hasty in a Sentence

I made a hasty sketch of the scene. Seeing the dog, the cat made a hasty retreat up a tree. We don't want to make any hasty decisions. He later realized that he was too hasty in his decision to quit.
Recent Examples on the Web The process has been deliberate, with no hasty decisions. Joe Guillen, Axios, 19 Sep. 2024 Here’s How Apple’s Update Decision—Bad News Confirmed For Millions Of iPhone Users Today’s Eclipse Of The Full Moon Sets Up A ‘Ring Of Fire’ — What To Know Incidents like these underscore the risks of a hasty AI deployment. Manoj Chaudhary, Forbes, 17 Sep. 2024 This hasty wedding came as a surprise to Doug Benefield’s then 14-year-old-daughter, Eva Benefield, whose mother Renee Benefield, Doug’s first wife, had passed away nine months earlier. Brooke Stangeland, ABC News, 13 Sep. 2024 The president’s subsequent hasty exile baffled many of his supporters and led to conjecture that perhaps there were incriminating videos of him as well. Chris Kraul, Los Angeles Times, 12 Sep. 2024 See all Example Sentences for hasty 

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'hasty.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

see haste entry 1

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1c

Time Traveler
The first known use of hasty was in the 14th century

Dictionary Entries Near hasty

Cite this Entry

“Hasty.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hasty. Accessed 9 Oct. 2024.

Kids Definition

hasty

adjective
hastier; hastiest
1
a
: done or made in a hurry
made a hasty sketch of the scene
b
: fast and often not thorough
made a hasty survey of the problem
2
: acting or done without forethought : rash
3
: quick to anger : irritable
a hasty temper
hastily
-stə-lē
adverb
hastiness
-stē-nəs
noun

More from Merriam-Webster on hasty

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!