immediacy

American  

[ih-mee-dee-uh-see] / ɪˈmi di ə si /

noun

plural

immediacies

1. the state, condition, or quality of being immediate.

2. Often immediacies. an immediate need.

   the immediacies of everyday living.

3. Philosophy.

   1. immediate presence of an object of knowledge to the mind, without any distortions, inferences, or interpretations, and without involvement of any intermediate agencies.

   2. the direct content of the mind as distinguished from representation or cognition.

---

Etymology

Origin of immediacy

First recorded in 1595–1605; immedi(ate) + -acy

Explanation

Use the noun immediacy to talk about the lighting-fast speed with which something happens. If you order pizza and see the delivery driver pull up in front of your house two minutes later, you'll be amazed at the immediacy of your pizza's arrival. Something that's immediate, or instantaneous, has the quality of immediacy. Another way to use this noun is to mean "directly," or "firsthand." For example, when people first viewed live news reports on television, they probably marveled at the immediacy of watching something as it was happening, directly and without delay. Immediacy has been in use since about 1600, and it comes from the adjective immediate, with its Latin root of immediatus, "without anything in between."

Example Sentences

Closely cropped and dramatically lighted, the tight composition gives the familiar scene a new immediacy and intimacy, leavened by the playful interaction of the Christ child and St. John.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 24, 2026

When I hear the word potluck, I am transported, with a kind of olfactory immediacy, to the basement of my grandmother’s church.

From Salon • Mar. 15, 2026

Alternative statutory paths remain available to the administration, while none confer the same breadth or immediacy as IEEPA.

From Barron's • Feb. 21, 2026

Paradise Factory now bills itself as “bringing the rigor of theatrical discipline to the process of cinematic art, and bringing the intimacy and immediacy of the cinema into theatrical performance art.”

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 18, 2026

It does not have the immediacy that it did in the tunnel.

From "A Heart in a Body in the World" by Deb Caletti

Related Words

• closeness