1
as in briefly
in a few words
the sudden closing of the restaurant was announced only with a shortly worded sign: "Out of Business"
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in soon
at or within a short time
the meeting will begin shortly, so don't go too far away to find a bathroom
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of shortly
Delta Air Lines Flight 1921 with 142 passengers and six crew members on board was heading to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico from Seattle, the airline said, while Japan Airlines Flight 68 had arrived from Tokyo shortly before the incident, according to data on FlightAware.
—
Saman Shafiq, USA TODAY, 6 Feb. 2025
But prosecutors made a disclosure shortly before opening arguments began Friday that could upend that approach.
—James Queally, Los Angeles Times, 25 Jan. 2025
The crash occurred on the northbound side of the highway just prior to Exit 90 shortly before 11:15 p.m., according to Connecticut State Police.
—Justin Muszynski, Hartford Courant, 24 Jan. 2025
Speaking of which, Nielsen is expected to announce the formal expansion of its OOH coverage shortly before Super Bowl LIX kicks off in New Orleans on Feb. 9.
—Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 24 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for shortly 
Saman Shafiq, USA TODAY, 6 Feb. 2025
But prosecutors made a disclosure shortly before opening arguments began Friday that could upend that approach.
—James Queally, Los Angeles Times, 25 Jan. 2025
The crash occurred on the northbound side of the highway just prior to Exit 90 shortly before 11:15 p.m., according to Connecticut State Police.
—Justin Muszynski, Hartford Courant, 24 Jan. 2025
Speaking of which, Nielsen is expected to announce the formal expansion of its OOH coverage shortly before Super Bowl LIX kicks off in New Orleans on Feb. 9.
—Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 24 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for shortly
Recent Examples of Synonyms for shortly
Adverb
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The golden spike had been briefly exhibited in Fairbanks in 1967 and Anchorage in 2001.—
Sonja Anderson,
Smithsonian Magazine,
29 Jan. 2025
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Following the news, 23andMe’s stock — which already fell 82% last year — dropped another 10% in after-hours trading and was briefly halted.—
Bruce Gil,
Quartz,
29 Jan. 2025
Adverb
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Flight lands soon At Reagan National Airport, Hamaad Raza received a text message from his wife: The flight was about 20 minutes from touching down.—
Ray Sanchez and Chelsea Bailey,
CNN,
1 Feb. 2025
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However, questions were soon raised over the provenance of the semiconductors used to build DeepSeek’s R1 reasoning model given U.S. restrictions on exporting advanced AI chips in China.—
Katrina Bishop,
CNBC,
1 Feb. 2025
Adverb
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Changing other content, according to the document, would require review by an expert precisely because any alterations would risk scientific integrity.—
Katherine J. Wu,
The Atlantic,
31 Jan. 2025
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The blades are sharp and cut precisely, according to one customer who also likes its ergonomic design.—
Kelsey Fredricks,
People.com,
30 Jan. 2025
Thesaurus Entries Near shortly
Cite this Entry
“Shortly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shortly. Accessed 12 Feb. 2025.
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