rapid-fire

adjective

rap·​id-fire ˌra-pəd-ˈfī(-ə)r 

1

: firing or adapted for firing shots in rapid succession

2

: marked by rapidity, liveliness, or sharpness

a comedian with a rapid-fire delivery

Synonyms

• blistering
• breakneck
• breathless
• brisk
• dizzy
• fast
• fleet
• fleet-footed
• flying
• galloping
• hasty
• hot
• lightning
• nippy
• quick
• rapid
• rattling
• snappy
• speedy
• splitting
• swift
• whirlwind
• zippy

Examples of rapid-fire in a Sentence

the witness stayed unruffled all through the prosecutor's rapid-fire questioning

Recent Examples on the Web

The information gleaned from his phone, family and friends doesn’t offer a motive, national security analysts say, and the absence of a quick explanation has left room for the rapid-fire spread of partisan and conspiratorial theories shaping how millions of Americans view the attack. —Devlin Barrett, Washington Post, 20 July 2024

Even with the incremental changes, data indicates the job market is relatively stable, if cooling, but many Americans are feeling whiplash from the rapid-fire hiring and wage growth during the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic recovery. —Jennifer Liu, CNBC, 16 July 2024

Like the rapid-fire fine print in television ads for prescription drugs, the original product label for the device listed more than 60 types of potential complications. —Kff Health News, The Mercury News, 16 July 2024

With this rapid-fire launch cadence, SpaceX could quickly demonstrate the fitness of any fixes engineers recommend to resolve the problem that caused Thursday night's failure. —Stephen Clark, Ars Technica, 12 July 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1890, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

rapid-fire

adjective

rap·​id-fire

ˌrap-əd-ˈfī(ə)r

1

: able to fire shots rapidly

a rapid-fire weapon

2

: marked by a rapid rate or pace

spoke rapid-fire Spanish