haste

[ heyst ]

noun

1. swiftness of motion; speed; celerity:

   He performed his task with great haste. They felt the need for haste.

   Antonyms: sloth

2. urgent need of quick action; a hurry or rush:

   to be in haste to get ahead in the world.

   Synonyms: urgency, ado, bustle, flurry

3. unnecessarily quick action; thoughtless, rash, or undue speed:

   Haste makes waste.

   Synonyms: precipitation, precipitancy

verb (used with or without object)

, hast·ed, hast·ing.

1. Archaic. to hasten.

haste

/ heɪst /

noun

1. speed, esp in an action; swiftness; rapidity
2. the act of hurrying in a careless or rash manner
3. a necessity for hurrying; urgency
4. make haste
   to hurry; rush

verb

1. a poetic word for hasten

Derived Forms

• ˈhasteful, adjective
• ˈhastefully, adverb

Other Words From

• hasteful adjective
• hasteful·ly adverb
• hasteless adjective
• hasteless·ness noun
• un·hasted adjective
• un·hasting adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of haste¹

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English, from Old French from Germanic; akin to Old Frisian hāste, Old English hæst “violence,” Old Norse heifst “hatred,” Gothic haifsts “quarrel”

Word History and Origins

Origin of haste¹

C14: from Old French haste, of Germanic origin; compare Old Norse heifst hate, Old English hǣst strife, Old High German heisti powerful

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. make haste, to act or go with speed; hurry:

   She made haste to tell the president the good news.

More idioms and phrases containing haste

In addition to the idiom beginning with haste , also see make haste .

Synonym Study

See speed.

Example Sentences

A coat hanging on a wall hook turns out to be one that was left there in haste, with notes between distant lovers still residing in the pockets.

From Los Angeles Times

She sent a letter Monday to the Homeland Security secretary and head of the Coast Guard asking to implement change “with all possible haste.”

From Los Angeles Times

Peter Gautier, in a July letter to the NTSB, wrote that it had been “dilgently working” on a notice of a proposed rule making with “all due haste” on safety management systems.

From Los Angeles Times

In a report, the ISB said the support scheme appeared to have been “set up in haste, underthought and under-resourced”.

From BBC

She hasn’t ruled out a future run for statewide office — Porter could be a formidable candidate for attorney general or governor — but feels no haste to decide.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• alacrity
• urgency