headlong

adverb head·long \ ˈhed-ˈlȯŋ \

|Updated on: 14 Jun 2018

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Examples: headlong in a Sentence

Editor's Note: Did You Know?

Definition of headlong

1 : headfirst 1

2 : without deliberation : recklessly

rushes headlong into danger

3 : without pause or delay

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Examples of headlong in a Sentence

I dove headlong to the floor.
plunged headlong into the crowd in pursuit of the purse snatcher

Recent Examples of headlong from the Web

That means running headlong into some of thorniest questions about driverless taxi services.

— aarian marshall, WIRED, "California's Heavy-Handed Plan to Regulate the Self-Driving Car Biz," 24 May 2018
Now Joy is headlong in love with a woman named Lou.

— New York Times, "Review: ‘Unexpected Joy’ Is a ‘Me’ Generation Musical," 3 May 2018
The New York Times: Trump to Drop Call for Medicare to Negotiate Lower Drug Prices Enthusiasm for Medicaid work requirements is running headlong into concerns over Native Americans’ rights over at HHS.

— brianna labuskes, Washington Post, "Best Reads Of The Week With Brianna Labuskes," 11 May 2018
The value of psychedelic therapy was first recognized nearly 70 years ago, only to be forgotten when what had been a promising era of research ran headlong into a nationwide moral panic about LSD, beginning around 1965.

— michael pollan, WSJ, "The New Science of Psychedelics," 3 May 2018
Wolfson dove headlong into the social ferment of the 1960s.

— moises velasquez-manoff, WIRED, "Ketamine Stirs Up Hope—and Controversy—as a Depression Drug," 8 May 2018
That case ran headlong into Trump’s competing instincts on foreign policy and caught fellow European powers off guard.

— Bloomberg.com, "Macron’s Pitch to Trump on a ‘New’ Iran Deal Surprises EU Allies," 25 Apr. 2018
From that moment until when Ohtani signed with the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday, the Reds threw themselves headlong into the task of convincing the 23-year-old, two-way phenom to come to Cincinnati.

— dave clark, Cincinnati.com, "Shohei Ohtani is on a tear; here's how Reds tried to get him," 4 Apr. 2018
Across the clinical development ecosystem, the desire to use data for faster discovery is running headlong into the inefficiencies caused by fragmented systems, processes and departments.

— renee morad, Scientific American, "A Flood of Medical Data Could Improve Clinical Trials—or Hinder Them," 12 Mar. 2018

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

Did You Know?

Headlong appeared in Middle English as "hedlong," an alteration of the older "hedling" or "hedlynge." "Hedling" is a combination of the Middle English "hed" ("head") and "-ling," an adverb suffix which means "in such a direction or manner." Thus, "hedling" originally meant "with the head foremost" or, if you will, "in the direction of the head." By the late 1400s, influenced by its use in the compound word endlong, the adjective "long" began to be regarded as a suffix and a variant of "-ling." It was this substitution of "-ling" with "-long" that led to the replacement of words like "sideling" and "headling" with the now more familiar "sidelong" and "headlong."

Origin and Etymology of headlong

Middle English hedlong, alteration of hedling, from hed head

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First Known Use: 14th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1

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headlong Synonyms

Phrases

on the spur of the moment;

headlong

adjective head·long \ ˈhed-ˌlȯŋ \

Definition of headlong

1 archaic : steep, precipitous

2 : lacking in calmness or restraint : precipitate

a headlong torrent of emotion

3 : plunging headfirst

Examples of headlong in a Sentence

terrified forest creatures in a headlong retreat from the rapidly spreading fire

Recent Examples of headlong from the Web

Esfahani’s playing is notable for its crisp articulation, headlong momentum, and savvy theatrical effects.

— alex ross, The New Yorker, "The Rebel Harpsichordists," 14 May 2018
The full cost of that headlong spree started becoming clear last year as Chinese authorities, alarmed by mounting financial risks, slammed the brakes on Anbang and peers such as HNA Group.

— Bloomberg.com, "Three China Insurers Found Violating Investment Rules," 24 Feb. 2018
Its plentiful reproductions vividly trace the headlong first decade of the work of Nina Chanel Abney, a promising painter whose bright, stenciled surfaces draw equally from dire current events and modernist art.

— holland cotter, roberta smith and jason farago, New York Times, "The Best Art Books of 2017," 14 Dec. 2017
Regarded as a stabilizing figure amid political turbulence and headlong modernization, the king’s passing on Oct. 13, 2016 also evoked anxiety about what comes next as the country confronts the close of an era.

— Washington Post, "King’s legacy still felt strongly as Thailand bids goodbye," 22 Oct. 2017
The track is 28 minutes long, building continuously before moving into headlong rapture, which was, of course, implicit in everything that had gone before.

— geoff dyer, New York Times, "My Obsession With the Necks, the Greatest Trio on Earth," 4 Oct. 2017
WeWork appears to be on a headlong expansion binge.

— jeanette steele, sandiegouniontribune.com, "WeWork to expand co-working empire into University City," 25 Oct. 2017
Wildfires whipped by powerful winds swept through Northern California sent residents on a headlong flight to safety through smoke and flames as homes burned.

— benjy egel, sacbee, "Updated: These 30 businesses have burned in the Wine Country wildfires | The Sacramento Bee," 11 Oct. 2017
Bonds, meanwhile, are in headlong retreat as the market revises up its expectations for a rate hike in December.

— alan murray, Fortune, "Stranded in the Middle — CEO Daily, Friday, 6th October," 6 Oct. 2017

First Known Use of headlong

circa 1533

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

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headlong Synonyms

Synonyms

cursory, flying, hasty, helter-skelter, hurried, overhasty, pell-mell, precipitate, precipitous, rash, rushed;

Antonyms

deliberate, unhurried, unrushed;

Near Antonyms

calculated, calculating, measured;

circumspect, foresighted, forethoughtful;

drawn-out, extended, long-term, prolonged;

faltering, hesitant, hesitating, tentative;

dallying, dawdling, laggard, leisurely, poky (or pokey), shilly-shallying, slow;

Related Words

breakneck, breathtaking;

headstrong, heady, hotheaded, impatient, impetuous, impulsive, madcap, reckless, unadvised;

quick, rapid, speedy, swift;

horseback, impromptu, makeshift, offhand, offhanded, off-the-cuff, rush, slapdash, snap, spontaneous, spur-of-the-moment;

abrupt, sudden;

Synonym Discussion of headlong

precipitate, headlong, abrupt, impetuous, sudden mean showing undue haste or unexpectedness. precipitate stresses lack of due deliberation and implies prematureness of action.