Quick — Meaning, Definition & Synonyms

adjective adverb noun /ˈkwik/

Meaning & Definition of Quick

Quick (adjective)

  1. acting or capable of acting with speed
  2. fast in development or occurrence
  3. done or taking place with rapidity

Quick (adverb)

  1. in a quick manner

Quick (noun)

  1. a painfully sensitive spot or area of flesh (such as that underlying a fingernail or toenail)
  2. the inmost sensibilities
  3. the very center of something, heart

Quick (adjective) — Senses, Synonyms & Antonyms

  1. 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"

    similar: alacritous, alert, expeditious, prompt, ready, willing
    related: receptive, responsive, immediate, instant, instantaneous, summary, breakneck, breathless, brisk, fast, fleet, fleet-footed, hit-and-run, lightning, rapid, rapid-fire, rattling, snappy, speedy, swift, whirlwind, eager, keen, sharp, apt, clever, quick-witted, ready-witted, sharp-witted, smart
    near: unresponsive, crawling, creeping, dallying, dawdling, dilatory, dillydallying, dragging, laggard, lagging, lazy, lazyish, leisurely, logy, poking, poky, slothful, slow, slowish, sluggish, tardy, unhurried, dormant, idle, inactive, inert

  2. having or showing quickness of mind

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

    similar: alert, brainy, bright, brilliant, clever, exceptional, fast, hyperintelligent, intelligent, keen, nimble, quick-witted, sharp, sharp-witted, smart, supersmart, ultrasmart
    related: apt, ingenious, resourceful, acute, astute, discerning, heady, insightful, knowing, perceptive, percipient, perspicacious, sagacious, sapient, savvy, wise, cerebral, erudite, genial, highbrow, knowledgeable, learned, literate, scholarly, well-read, educated, informed, schooled, skilled, trained, creative, inventive, judicious, prudent, sage, sane, sensible, sound, crafty, cunning, foxy, shrewd, wily, logical, rational, reasonable
    opposite: airheaded, birdbrained, boneheaded, brain-dead, brainless, bubbleheaded, chuckleheaded, dense, dim, dim-witted, doltish, dopey, dorky (slang), dull, dumb, dunderheaded, empty-headed, fatuous, gormless (chiefly British), half-witted, knuckleheaded, lamebrain, lunkheaded, mindless, obtuse, opaque, pinheaded, senseless, simple, slow, slow-witted, soft, softheaded, stupid, thick, thickheaded, thick-witted, unbrilliant, unintelligent, unsmart, vacuous, weak-minded, witless
    near: feebleminded, simpleminded, boobish, foolish, half-baked, idiotic, imbecile, moronic, silly, ignorant, illiterate, lowbrow, nonintellectual, unacademic, uneducated, uninformed, unintellectual, untaught, unthinking, absurd, asinine, balmy, cockeyed, crackpot, crazy, cuckoo, daffy, daft, dippy, dotty, featherheaded, fool, harebrained, insane, kooky, loony, mad, nonsensical, nutty, preposterous, sappy, screwball, tomfool, unwise, wacky, zany

  3. moving, proceeding, or acting with great speed

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

    similar: blistering, breakneck, breathless, brisk, dizzy, fast, fleet, fleet-footed, flying, galloping, hasty, hot, lightning, nippy, rapid, rapid-fire, rattling, snappy, speedy, splitting, swift, whirlwind, zippy, at speed (chiefly British)
    related: expeditious, prompt, ready, accelerated, hastened, hurried, quickened, rushed, breathtaking, energetic, strenuous, strong, vigorous, high-speed, rush, ultrafast, ultrarapid
    opposite: slow
    near: crawling, dallying, dawdling, dillydallying, dragging, laggard, languid, lingering, plodding, poking, poky, slowish, sluggish, unhurried, deliberate, leisurely, measured, dilatory, late, tardy, ultraslow

  4. having or showing life

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

    similar: alive, animate, breathing, live, living
    related: active, animated, dynamic, lively, thriving, vibrant, vigorous, vital, vivacious, current, existent, existing, extant, going, prevailing, surviving, resurrected
    opposite: asleep, breathless, cold, dead, deceased, defunct, departed, expired, inanimate, lifeless, nonliving
    near: dying, fading, moribund, stillborn, reposing, resting, ghostlike, ghostly, ghosty, zombielike, absent, extinct, fallen, finished, gone, lapsed, lost, nonexistent, perished, terminated, vanished, wiped out, barren, desert

  5. able to sense slight impressions or differences

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

    similar: acute, delicate, fine, keen, perceptive, sensitive, sharp
    related: accurate, clear, discerning, good, piercing, precise, receptive, sensible, subtle, hair-trigger, hyperacute, hypersensitive, oversensitive, supersensitive
    near: bad, deadened, dimmed, dull, dulled, fading, dead, imperceptive, insensible, insensitive, numb, imprecise, inaccurate

  6. containing unborn young within the body

    "a woman quick with child"

    similar: big, caught, enceinte, expectant, expecting, gone, gravid, heavy, pregnant, with child, with young
    related: parturient, prenatal, childbearing, gestational, brooding, conceiving, impregnated
    opposite: nonpregnant
    near: barren, infertile, aborting, miscarrying, delivered

Quick (adverb) — Senses, Synonyms & Antonyms

  1. with great speed

    "watch out, as the cars pass by here pretty quick"

    similar: apace, briskly, chop-chop, double-quick, fast, fleetly, full tilt, hastily, hell-for-leather, hot, lickety-split, posthaste, presto, pronto, quickly, rapidly, snappily, soon, speedily, swift, swiftly, a mile a minute, at full throttle, at full tilt, by leaps and bounds, in a hurry, in short order, like a shot, like gangbusters, like wildfire
    related: immediately, promptly, readily, impetuously, impulsively, rashly, recklessly, abruptly, suddenly, energetically, vigorously
    opposite: slow, slowly
    near: laggardly, lingeringly, ploddingly, sluggishly, deliberately, leisurely, belatedly, delinquently, tardily

Quick (noun) — Senses, Synonyms & Antonyms

  1. the seat of one's deepest thoughts and emotions

    "that nasty comment cut me to the quick"

    similar: belly, blood, bone(s), bosom, breast, core, gut, heart, heartstrings, inner space, inside, soul
    related: conscience, mind

Related Entry: Quick-tempered (adjective)

Quick-tempered is a different word from Quick. The synonyms below are for quick-tempered, not for quick.

  1. easily irritated or annoyed

    "a quick-tempered man who invariably utters threats at any kids who wander into his yard"

    similar: choleric, crabby, cranky, cross, crotchety, fiery, grouchy, grumpy, irascible, irritable, peevish, perverse, pettish, petulant, prickly, raspy, ratty, short-tempered, snappish, snappy, snarky, snippety, snippy, stuffy, testy, waspish, out of humor, out of sorts
    related: bearish, bilious, cantankerous, cross-grained, curmudgeonly, disagreeable, dyspeptic, ill-humored, ill-natured, ill-tempered, off-color, ornery, querulous, snarly, surly, argumentative, bellicose, belligerent, combative, contentious, disputatious, fractious, fretful, pugnacious, quarrelsome, scrappy, truculent, huffy, pouty, sensitive, short, sulky, sullen, tetchy, thin-skinned, touchy, hot-blooded, passionate
    near: affable, companionable, cordial, extroverted, friendly, genial, gregarious, outgoing, sociable, agreeable, amiable, good-natured, good-tempered, sweet, well-disposed, carefree, easygoing, happy-go-lucky, relaxed, forbearing, long-suffering, obliging, patient, stoic, tolerant, uncomplaining, understanding

Related Entry: Quick-witted (adjective)

Quick-witted is a different word from Quick. The synonyms below are for quick-witted, not for quick.

  1. having or showing quickness of mind

    "the quick-witted child easily figured out the trick to making the toy work"

    similar: alert, brainy, bright, brilliant, clever, exceptional, fast, hyperintelligent, intelligent, keen, nimble, quick, sharp, sharp-witted, smart, supersmart, ultrasmart
    related: apt, ingenious, resourceful, acute, astute, discerning, heady, insightful, knowing, perceptive, percipient, perspicacious, sagacious, sapient, savvy, wise, cerebral, erudite, genial, highbrow, knowledgeable, learned, literate, scholarly, well-read, educated, informed, schooled, skilled, trained, creative, inventive, judicious, prudent, sage, sane, sensible, sound, crafty, cunning, foxy, shrewd, wily, logical, rational, reasonable
    opposite: airheaded, birdbrained, boneheaded, brain-dead, brainless, bubbleheaded, chuckleheaded, dense, dim, dim-witted, doltish, dopey, dorky (slang), dull, dumb, dunderheaded, empty-headed, fatuous, gormless (chiefly British), half-witted, knuckleheaded, lamebrain, lunkheaded, mindless, obtuse, opaque, pinheaded, senseless, simple, slow, slow-witted, soft, softheaded, stupid, thick, thickheaded, thick-witted, unbrilliant, unintelligent, unsmart, vacuous, weak-minded, witless
    near: feebleminded, simpleminded, boobish, foolish, half-baked, idiotic, imbecile, moronic, silly, ignorant, illiterate, lowbrow, nonintellectual, unacademic, uneducated, uninformed, unintellectual, untaught, unthinking, absurd, asinine, balmy, cockeyed, crackpot, crazy, cuckoo, daffy, daft, dippy, dotty, featherheaded, fool, harebrained, insane, kooky, loony, mad, nonsensical, nutty, preposterous, sappy, screwball, tomfool, unwise, wacky, zany

Related Entry: Quick fix (noun)

Quick fix is a different word from Quick. The synonyms below are for quick fix, not for quick.

  1. as in substitute, backup

    similar: alternate, backup, standby, stand-in, substitute, understudy, recourse, refuge, resort, expedient, makeshift, stopgap

Related Entry: Quick fixes (noun)

Quick fixes is a different word from Quick. The synonyms below are for quick fixes, not for quick.

  1. as in substitutes, backups

    similar: alternates, backups, standbys, stand-ins, substitutes, understudies, recourses, refuges, resorts, expedients, makeshifts, stopgaps

Related Entry: Quick-freeze (verb)

Quick-freeze is a different word from Quick. The synonyms below are for quick-freeze, not for quick.

  1. as in freeze, ice

    similar: freeze, frost, ice, supercool, air-condition, ventilate, chill, cool, refrigerate
    opposite: heat, toast, warm, bake, boil, broil, steam, heat-treat, temper, microwave

Related Entry: Quick-freezes (verb)

Quick-freezes is a different word from Quick. The synonyms below are for quick-freezes, not for quick.

  1. as in freezes, ices

    similar: freezes, frosts, ices, supercools, air-conditions, ventilates, chills, cools, refrigerates
    opposite: heats, toasts, warms, bakes, boils, broils, steams, heat-treats, tempers, microwaves

Related Entry: Quick-freezing (verb)

Quick-freezing is a different word from Quick. The synonyms below are for quick-freezing, not for quick.

  1. as in freezing, icing

    similar: freezing, frosting, icing, supercooling, air-conditioning, ventilating, chilling, cooling, refrigerating
    opposite: heating, toasting, warming, baking, boiling, broiling, steaming, heat-treating, tempering, microwaving

Synonyms, Thesaurus & Another Word for Quick

The most common words with a similar meaning to Quick:

Chiefly British: at speed
alacritous, alert, expeditious, prompt, ready, willing, brainy, bright, brilliant, clever, exceptional, fast, hyperintelligent, intelligent, keen, nimble, quick-witted, sharp, sharp-witted, smart, supersmart, ultrasmart, blistering, breakneck, breathless, brisk, dizzy, fleet, fleet-footed, flying, galloping, hasty, hot, lightning, nippy, rapid, rapid-fire, rattling, snappy, speedy

Antonyms & Opposite Words for Quick

Words with the opposite meaning of Quick:

airheaded, birdbrained, boneheaded, brain-dead, brainless, bubbleheaded, chuckleheaded, dense, dim, dim-witted, doltish, dopey, dorky, dull, dumb, dunderheaded, empty-headed, fatuous, gormless, half-witted, knuckleheaded, lamebrain, lunkheaded, mindless, obtuse, opaque, pinheaded, senseless, simple, slow

Related Words for Quick

receptive, responsive, immediate, instant, instantaneous, summary, hit-and-run, eager, apt, ready-witted, ingenious, resourceful, astute, discerning, heady, insightful, knowing, percipient, perspicacious, sagacious, sapient, savvy, wise, cerebral, erudite, genial, highbrow, knowledgeable, learned, literate

Near Antonyms of Quick

unresponsive, crawling, creeping, dallying, dawdling, dilatory, dillydallying, dragging, laggard, lagging, lazy, lazyish, leisurely, logy, poking, poky, slothful, slowish, sluggish, tardy, unhurried, dormant, idle, inactive, inert, feebleminded, simpleminded, boobish, foolish, half-baked

Word Forms of Quick

Derived words: quickly (adverb), quickness (noun)

Origin & Etymology of Quick

Middle English quik, from Old English cwic; akin to Old Norse kvikr living, Latin vivus living, vivere to live, Greek bios, zōē life

First known use: before 12th century

Vocabulary Lists & Topics for Quick

Words & Phrases Containing Quick

quick assets, quick bread, quick fix, quick-freeze, quick kick, quick-tempered, quick time

Frequently Asked Questions about Quick

What does "Quick" mean?

"Quick" means acting or capable of acting with speed. As an an adjective, an adverb and a noun, it is defined as: acting or capable of acting with speed. It has 8 distinct senses.

What is another word for "Quick"?

Other words for "Quick" include alacritous, alert, expeditious, prompt, ready, willing, brainy and bright. The best synonym depends on which meaning of "Quick" you intend.

What are different ways to say "Quick"?

There are 219 words and phrases with a similar meaning to "Quick". Common alternatives include alacritous, alert, expeditious, prompt, ready, willing, brainy, bright, brilliant and clever.

What is the opposite of "Quick"?

Antonyms of "Quick" include airheaded, birdbrained, boneheaded, brain-dead, brainless, bubbleheaded, chuckleheaded and dense. Near antonyms include unresponsive, crawling, creeping and dallying.

How do you use "Quick" in a sentence?

Examples of "Quick" in a sentence: "she's a quick wit, always ready with a pun or joke when the moment calls for one"; "a quick lad, he immediately caught on to how the machinery operated"; "a quick run through the car wash, and your vehicle will look as good as new".

Is "Quick" a noun, verb, or adjective?

"Quick" can be used as an adjective, an adverb and a noun, depending on the context.

Is "Quick" useful for IELTS, TOEFL, and other English exams?

As an A1-level word, "Quick" is typical of Cambridge A1 Movers (Young Learners), TOEIC Listening & Reading 120+.

How do you pronounce "Quick"?

"Quick" is pronounced /ˈkwik/.