presently

adverb

pres·​ent·​ly ˈpre-zᵊnt-lē 

1

a

archaic : at once

b

: without undue delay : before long

2

: at the present time : now

Usage of Presently

Both senses 1b and 2 are flourishing in current English, but many commentators have objected to sense 2. Since this sense has been in continuous use since the 15th century, it is not clear why it is objectionable. Perhaps a note in the Oxford English Dictionary (1909) that the sense has been obsolete since the 17th century in literary English is to blame, but the note goes on to observe that the sense is in regular use in most English dialects. The last citation in that dictionary is from a 1901 Leeds newspaper, written in Standard English. Sense 2 is most common in contexts relating to business and politics.

the fastest-rising welfare cost is Medicaid, presently paid by the states and cities

—William Safire

Synonyms

• shortly
• soon

Examples of presently in a Sentence

I cannot attend to the matter this instant, but I will presently.

we are presently waiting in line for our turn

Recent Examples on the Web

First off is the Stella Sneaker, Larroudé’s first one ever, that debuted at the end of January 2025 and is presently one of its bestselling offerings. —Stacia Datskovska, Footwear News, 2 Oct. 2025

Senior figures on the footballing side have yet to be told when a sporting director will be in place, either, with the interim structure, which presently contains a vacuum at the top of footballing operations, still in place. —Chris Waugh, New York Times, 30 Sep. 2025

This all but precludes a cargo mission to the International Space Station, which is scheduled to be deorbited in 2030, and presently has two more-than-capable supply vehicles with SpaceX's Dragon and Northrop's new, larger Cygnus. —Eric Berger, ArsTechnica, 25 Sep. 2025

The Padres began the day two games behind the National League West-leading Dodgers, and the reward for winning the division is a home wild-card series as opposed to the road series the Padres are presently in line to play. —Kevin Acee, San Diego Union-Tribune, 19 Sep. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

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

Rhymes for presently

• pleasantly
• unpleasantly

Kids Definition

presently

adverb

pres·​ent·​ly ˈprez-ᵊnt-lē 

1

archaic : at once

2

: before long : after a while

presently they arrived

3

: at the present time : now

she is presently working