as in velocity
a high rate of movement or performance
the rapidity with which she can do mental math calculations is amazing
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Recent Examples of rapidity
The rapidity of the decision is key: if the cell relies on more traditional signaling pathways that activate genes in response to an infection, an agile virus could take control of the cell’s protein-making machinery before the cell has a chance to respond.
—
Viviane Callier, Scientific American, 20 Oct. 2025
This rapidity of implementation means that attorneys cannot wait to see how things might develop but must start preparing, or at least learning about it, now.
—Jay Adkisson, Forbes.com, 18 Aug. 2025
The rapidity and the terseness of the onscreen action leaps from scene to scene, from event to event, from one salient point to the next, with nothing incidental in between, nothing revealing anything besides what directly elucidates the story as Polanski chooses to tell it.
—Richard Brody, New Yorker, 14 Aug. 2025
The rapidity of this population decline has forced significant revisions to official estimates of how fast China will age.
—Carl Minzner, Foreign Affairs, 3 May 2022
See All Example Sentences for rapidity
Viviane Callier, Scientific American, 20 Oct. 2025
This rapidity of implementation means that attorneys cannot wait to see how things might develop but must start preparing, or at least learning about it, now.
—Jay Adkisson, Forbes.com, 18 Aug. 2025
The rapidity and the terseness of the onscreen action leaps from scene to scene, from event to event, from one salient point to the next, with nothing incidental in between, nothing revealing anything besides what directly elucidates the story as Polanski chooses to tell it.
—Richard Brody, New Yorker, 14 Aug. 2025
The rapidity of this population decline has forced significant revisions to official estimates of how fast China will age.
—Carl Minzner, Foreign Affairs, 3 May 2022
See All Example Sentences for rapidity
Recent Examples of Synonyms for rapidity
Noun
-
The firm highlighted the feat makes Bolt the first humanoid robot of its size to reach such velocities outside the lab.—
Jijo Malayil,
Interesting Engineering,
4 Feb. 2026
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Ayers has a plus arm and has plus power, flashing it more in the Arizona Fall League last year (where his exit velocity peaked at 111 mph) than in the regular season, since Myrtle Beach is a graveyard for would-be home runs.—
Keith Law,
New York Times,
4 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Winter Olympic athletes, particularly those who compete in events that involve flying down a mountain or icy track at breakneck speeds, are not exactly known for self-preservation instincts.—
Lindsay Schnell,
New York Times,
9 Feb. 2026
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With China’s lunar program picking up speed, the pressure is on for the US to reclaim the lunar surface — a destination that has remained untouched by humans for over 50 years.—
Mrigakshi Dixit,
Interesting Engineering,
9 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Rapidity.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rapidity. Accessed 11 Feb. 2026.
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