quicklyadverb
Quickly means taking little time, whether moving fast, doing something without delay, or spending only a moment on it.
- She walked quickly to the door.
- The fire spread quickly through the dry grass.
- You'll have to work more quickly if you want to finish today. (comparative: more quickly)
- Children learn languages quickly.
Collocations
verb + adverb move quickly, walk quickly, work quickly, spread quickly, grow quickly, learn quicklySynonyms rapidly (rapidly is more formal, for change and growth)
Antonyms slowly
Compare fast (fast is used for moving things and never takes -ly); quick (quick is the adjective: a quick look)
soonwithout taking long to happen or be done
- He quickly realized his mistake.
- We need to act quickly before the price goes up.
- She answered the email quickly.
- The problem was quickly solved. (before a past participle)
Collocations
Synonyms promptly (promptly is more formal)
Antonyms slowly
Compare soon (soon says that something happens a short time from now; quickly says that it takes little time)
brieflyfor a moment, without spending much time on it
- Can I quickly ask you something before you go?
- Let me quickly check my messages.
- I'll just quickly explain how it works.
Collocations
phrase just quicklySynonyms briefly
Choosing between quickly · fast · rapidly
Fast describes speed, usually of something that moves, usually goes after the verb, and never takes -ly: a fast car, drive fast, run fast (though it can come before a present participle: fast-growing, fast approaching). Quickly is the general word for taking little time and is used both for movement and for how soon something is done: walk quickly, quickly realize, answer quickly. Rapidly is more formal and is used mainly of change, growth, and spread: a rapidly growing town.
Usage
In informal speech quick is used as an adverb after a verb: Come quick! Run as quick as you can. In writing use quickly. The comparative is more quickly, and quicker is common in speech: She got there quicker than me.