Synonyms of quick

quick 1 of 3

adjective

ˈkwik 

1

as in swift

having or showing the ability to respond without delay or hesitation

she's a quick wit, always ready with a pun or joke when the moment calls for one

Synonyms & Similar Words

• swift
• willing
• immediate
• ready
• rapid
• responsive
• prompt
• expeditious
• fast
• brisk
• alert
• clever
• keen
• instantaneous
• instant
• alacritous
• summary
• eager
• sharp
• smart
• speedy
• receptive
• lightning
• breathless
• snappy
• whirlwind
• rattling
• rapid-fire
• apt
• fleet
• breakneck
• fleet-footed
• quick-witted
• hit-and-run
• sharp-witted
• ready-witted

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• slow
• unresponsive
• lazy
• leisurely
• unhurried
• sluggish
• dragging
• crawling
• creeping
• tardy
• lagging
• dilatory
• slothful
• poky
• laggard
• idle
• slowish
• dallying
• inactive
• inert
• dawdling
• dormant
• poking
• lazyish
• dillydallying
• logy

2

as in fast

having or showing quickness of mind

a quick lad, he immediately caught on to how the machinery operated

Synonyms & Similar Words

• fast
• clever
• intelligent
• smart
• brilliant
• sharp
• keen
• exceptional
• bright
• wise
• nimble
• skilled
• alert
• educated
• quick-witted
• brainy
• cunning
• sensible
• sharp-witted
• learned
• supersmart
• resourceful
• apt
• ingenious
• insightful
• astute
• ultrasmart
• acute
• creative
• reasonable
• savvy
• prudent
• literate
• logical
• perceptive
• schooled
• informed
• knowledgeable
• scholarly
• knowing
• sagacious
• heady
• judicious
• cerebral
• trained
• hyperintelligent
• discerning
• erudite
• rational
• inventive
• sound
• perspicacious
• shrewd
• sane
• genial
• crafty
• wily
• highbrow
• sage
• well-read
• percipient
• sapient
• foxy

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• simple
• slow
• dumb
• stupid
• dense
• thick
• soft
• dull
• mindless
• dim
• fatuous
• opaque
• senseless
• obtuse
• vacuous
• dopey
• unintelligent
• brainless
• brain-dead
• boneheaded
• witless
• doltish
• thickheaded
• dorky
• dunderheaded
• weak-minded
• silly
• foolish
• pinheaded
• softheaded
• simpleminded
• idiotic
• feebleminded
• moronic
• unbrilliant
• lamebrain
• dim-witted
• gormless
• unsmart
• imbecile
• ignorant
• slow-witted
• knuckleheaded
• empty-headed
• uninformed
• airheaded
• chuckleheaded
• uneducated
• unthinking
• lunkheaded
• bubbleheaded
• half-witted
• illiterate
• unwise
• thick-witted
• birdbrained
• mad
• absurd
• insane
• crazy
• untaught
• unintellectual
• lowbrow
• nutty
• zany
• wacky
• nonintellectual
• fool
• nonsensical
• unacademic
• preposterous
• sappy
• balmy
• asinine
• daft
• cuckoo
• kooky
• half-baked
• loony
• dippy
• boobish
• harebrained
• daffy
• dotty
• screwball
• cockeyed
• crackpot
• featherheaded
• tomfool

3

as in rapid

moving, proceeding, or acting with great speed

a quick run through the car wash, and your vehicle will look as good as new

Synonyms & Similar Words

• rapid
• fast
• brisk
• swift
• galloping
• speedy
• hasty
• hurried
• whirlwind
• rattling
• rapid-fire
• hot
• lightning
• breathless
• blistering
• snappy
• splitting
• zippy
• flying
• fleet
• accelerated
• dizzy
• rushed
• breakneck
• nippy
• prompt
• expeditious
• ready
• at speed
• fleet-footed
• strong
• vigorous
• rush
• breathtaking
• quickened
• strenuous
• high-speed
• energetic
• hastened
• ultrafast
• ultrarapid

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• slow
• unhurried
• sluggish
• deliberate
• dragging
• crawling
• leisurely
• languid
• lingering
• plodding
• poky
• laggard
• late
• measured
• slowish
• dallying
• tardy
• dilatory
• poking
• dawdling
• dillydallying
• ultraslow

4

as in breathing

having or showing life

after the battle, there was a hurried accounting of the quick and the dead

Synonyms & Similar Words

• breathing
• alive
• live
• animate
• active
• dynamic
• lively
• living
• vigorous
• animated
• vibrant
• vivacious
• current
• going
• vital
• surviving
• thriving
• existing
• prevailing
• extant
• existent
• resurrected

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• cold
• breathless
• dead
• expired
• departed
• dying
• lifeless
• deceased
• asleep
• inanimate
• fading
• defunct
• moribund
• gone
• resting
• nonliving
• absent
• finished
• ghostly
• vanished
• nonexistent
• wiped out
• terminated
• stillborn
• lost
• fallen
• ghostlike
• lapsed
• extinct
• barren
• desert
• ghosty
• zombielike
• reposing
• perished

5

as in keen

able to sense slight impressions or differences

parlayed her quick eye for beauty into ownership of a top modeling agency

Synonyms & Similar Words

• keen
• sensitive
• sharp
• acute
• accurate
• good
• delicate
• perceptive
• precise
• fine
• subtle
• clear
• sensible
• piercing
• receptive
• discerning
• hypersensitive
• supersensitive
• hair-trigger
• hyperacute
• oversensitive

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• bad
• dull
• fading
• dulled
• insensitive
• dead
• numb
• insensible
• inaccurate
• deadened
• imprecise
• dimmed
• imperceptive

6

as in gone

archaic containing unborn young within the body

a woman quick with child

Synonyms & Similar Words

• gone
• pregnant
• caught
• expecting
• big
• with young
• expectant
• gravid
• heavy
• with child
• enceinte
• prenatal
• gestational
• parturient
• childbearing
• brooding
• conceiving
• impregnated

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• barren
• nonpregnant
• infertile
• delivered
• aborting
• miscarrying

quick

2 of 3

adverb

as in quickly

with great speed

watch out, as the cars pass by here pretty quick

Synonyms & Similar Words

• quickly
• fast
• rapidly
• swiftly
• soon
• swift
• hot
• promptly
• immediately
• hastily
• in a hurry
• speedily
• in short order
• by leaps and bounds
• at full tilt
• briskly
• like a shot
• a mile a minute
• double-quick
• at full throttle
• like wildfire
• presto
• like gangbusters
• fleetly
• lickety-split
• apace
• chop-chop
• hell-for-leather
• abruptly
• pronto
• readily
• full tilt
• posthaste
• snappily
• impulsively
• recklessly
• rashly
• vigorously
• suddenly
• impetuously
• energetically

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• slowly
• slow
• sluggishly
• deliberately
• leisurely
• lingeringly
• belatedly
• ploddingly
• laggardly
• tardily
• delinquently

quick

3 of 3

noun

as in heart

the seat of one's deepest thoughts and emotions

that nasty comment cut me to the quick

Synonyms & Similar Words

• heart
• soul
• mind
• bone(s)
• gut
• breast
• core
• blood
• belly
• bosom
• inside
• inner space
• conscience
• heartstrings

Synonym Chooser

How does the adjective quick contrast with its synonyms?

Some common synonyms of quick are apt, prompt, and ready. While all these words mean "able to respond without delay or hesitation or indicative of such ability," quick stresses instancy of response and is likely to connote native rather than acquired power.

quick reflexes

a keen quick mind

When is apt a more appropriate choice than quick?

The words apt and quick can be used in similar contexts, but apt stresses the possession of qualities (such as intelligence, a particular talent, or a strong bent) that makes quick effective response possible.

an apt student

her answer was apt and to the point

Where would prompt be a reasonable alternative to quick?

While the synonyms prompt and quick are close in meaning, prompt is more likely to connote training and discipline that fits one for instant response.

prompt emergency medical care

When is it sensible to use ready instead of quick?

The meanings of ready and quick largely overlap; however, ready suggests facility or fluency in response.

backed by a pair of ready assistants

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of quick

Adjective

Furthermore, since liposomal vitamin C absorbs faster, the side effects of too much vitamin C can have a quicker onset. —Bestreviews, Chicago Tribune, 17 Feb. 2026

Some Republicans in the state were quick to criticize Lamont and his proposal. —Justin Muszynski, Hartford Courant, 17 Feb. 2026

Adverb

This technology lets passengers verify their identity in just a few seconds, making airport travel quicker and easier for many flyers. —Miami Herald Archives, Miami Herald, 11 Feb. 2026

The weak side corner is coming into view quicker. —C.j. Holmes, New York Daily News, 11 Feb. 2026

Noun

The left-arm quick picked up the invaluable wicket of Virat Kohli, widely regarded as one of the greatest batters in history, who went out facing his first ball, and then Netravalkar got the wicket of India captain Rohit Sharma. —Thomas Schlachter, CNN, 12 June 2024

Stress hormones flood your system, making your heart pound, your blood pressure rise, your breath quicks, your thoughts race…and none of it is super conducive to feeling relaxed and rejuvenated. —Anna Borges, SELF, 21 Dec. 2023