promptly

adverb

prompt·​ly ˈpräm(p)t-lē 

ˈpräm-plē

1

: in a prompt manner : without delay : very quickly or immediately

I'm going to speak French again, something I learned in school and promptly forgot.

—Deanna Pai

Treatment is promptly resumed until the virus is suppressed again, and then stopped to see if the patient's immune system is able to keep the viral levels in check.

—Joan Stephenson

2

: exactly at a particular time or the correct time

She arrived promptly at 7:00 p.m. as we had agreed.

Synonyms of promptly

• immediately
• instantly
• now

Examples of promptly in a Sentence

shipped the package promptly so that it would arrive on time

Recent Examples on the Web

The other was that on the last play of the scrimmage, when the team subbed in 6-year-old Asher Harvey, a Make-a-Wish kid who promptly took a handoff from Young and scored on the practice’s final play. — Scott Fowler, Charlotte Observer, 1 Aug. 2026

State lawmakers argued that schools should not be delaying reporting AI nudes until their own probes end but rather should be required to promptly tip off police, who are better positioned to investigate the crimes. — Ashley Belanger, ArsTechnica, 31 July 2026

Seconds later, Clemens received a cement mixer of an 0-2 slider from Matt Strahm and promptly deposited it into the first row of seats in right-center field. — Dan Hayes, New York Times, 31 July 2026

Early in the war, Baku promptly deployed troops and air defenses to its border with Iran in preparation for any crossover fire. — Paul Iddon, Forbes.com, 31 July 2026

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1