hasty

adjective

\ˈhā-stē

hastier; hastiest

Definition of hasty

1a archaic : rapid in action or movement : speedy

b : done or made in a hurry hasty city-street snapshots— R. B. Heilman

c : fast and typically superficial made a hasty examination of the wound

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 temperment

Other Words from hasty Synonyms & Antonyms Choose the Right Synonym More Example Sentences Learn More about hasty

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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

Congressional sources said that the likely reason the text was both redacted and unredacted was that the Justice Department sent over multiple document productions in a hasty and chaotic manner. — Jeremy Herb, CNN, "From Reddit to Trump: How the President latched onto a conspiracy theory," 6 June 2018 Abraham Verghese’s article eloquently describes the debacle of the mass and hasty implementation of electronic health-record technology that occurred in response to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. — New York Times, "Readers Respond to the 5.20.18 Issue," 31 May 2018 So as Hope Hicks beats a hasty and not-related-to-Russian-investigations-at-all-promise retreat, Cecily Strong donned a highlighted wig and gave Hicks a Weekend Update farewell. — Luke Darby, GQ, "SNL's Hope Hicks Also Isn't Totally Sure What Her Job Was or Why She Was There," 4 Mar. 2018 Little is known of their seemingly hasty departure -- or of the following days -- but the latest details speak to a possibly disturbing demise for the children. — Eliott C. Mclaughlin, CNN, "Drunk, drugged and possibly on the run: The Hart family's final days," 15 Apr. 2018 Video analysis shows that players who rush tend to miss penalties; the English are particularly hasty. — The Economist, "What makes a country good at football?," 9 June 2018 In spite of his two high-profile errors that night, which have provoked much analysis and debate Liverpool should not be so hasty to rid themselves of the German shot-stopper. — SI.com, "Why Liverpool Need to Forget Signing a New Keeper & Stick With Loris Karius," 10 July 2018 That seems a little hasty, given workers’ lamentable fortunes in recent decades. — The Economist, "The rich world needs higher real wage growth," 30 June 2018 They were created to train investigators to observe, weigh and prioritize evidence, and to ignore false leads, hasty conclusions, assumptions and bias. — William L. Hamilton, New York Times, "Heiress Plotted 19 Grisly Crimes. Investigation Underway.," 10 Jan. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'hasty.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.