swift suggests great rapidity coupled with ease of movement.
returned the ball with one swift stroke
fleet adds the implication of lightness and nimbleness.
fleet runners
quick suggests promptness and the taking of little time.
a quick wit
speedy implies quickness of successful accomplishment
speedy delivery of mail
and may also suggest unusual velocity.
hasty suggests hurry and precipitousness and often connotes carelessness.
a hasty inspection
expeditious suggests efficiency together with rapidity of accomplishment.
the expeditious handling of an order
Examples of speedy in a Sentence
They wished her a speedy recovery.
a speedy worker but not a very careful one, unfortunately
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Cora replaced Toro with pinch runner David Hamilton, and the speedy infielder immediately got himself into scoring position by stealing both second and third.—Mac Cerullo, Boston Herald, 29 July 2025 The offense got the perfect matchup with a defensive end defending the speedy running back.—Jon MacHota, New York Times, 28 July 2025 The show made a speedy transfer to Broadway the following year.—Raven Brunner, People.com, 25 July 2025 Now 24, Volpe has seemingly gone back and forth between trying to be a speedy singles-slapping hitter and a slugger willing to sacrifice strikeouts for home runs.—Gary Phillips, New York Daily News, 21 July 2025 See All Example Sentences for speedy
Word History
Etymology
Middle English spedi "beneficial, unencumbered, agile, prompt," from sped "luck, success, assistance, rate of progress" + -i-y entry 1 — more at speed entry 1
Share