as in rapid
moving, proceeding, or acting with great speed
the witness stayed unruffled all through the prosecutor's rapid-fire questioning
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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.
Recent Examples of rapid-fire
Astrocytes do not engage in the rapid-fire signaling typical of neurons at synapses.
—
Ingrid Wickelgren, Quanta Magazine, 30 Jan. 2026
The rapid-fire announcement of Grammy performers continues as Tyler, the Creator and Rose, both of whom were honored at Variety’s 2025 Hitmakers event in December, will perform at the show on Sunday (not together).
—Jem Aswad, Variety, 29 Jan. 2026
This matters especially for risky creative choices — Stone shaving her head for Bugonia, Jordan playing twins in Sinners, Hawke embodying the rapid-fire wit of Lorenz Hart in Blue Moon.
—Hannah Abraham, Forbes.com, 23 Jan. 2026
His affordability denialism of 2025 has transitioned into intense, rapid-fire action, with policy announcements that could address the high cost of food, electricity, housing, credit card rates, medicine and gasoline among other things.
—David Goldman, CNN Money, 20 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for rapid-fire
Ingrid Wickelgren, Quanta Magazine, 30 Jan. 2026
The rapid-fire announcement of Grammy performers continues as Tyler, the Creator and Rose, both of whom were honored at Variety’s 2025 Hitmakers event in December, will perform at the show on Sunday (not together).
—Jem Aswad, Variety, 29 Jan. 2026
This matters especially for risky creative choices — Stone shaving her head for Bugonia, Jordan playing twins in Sinners, Hawke embodying the rapid-fire wit of Lorenz Hart in Blue Moon.
—Hannah Abraham, Forbes.com, 23 Jan. 2026
His affordability denialism of 2025 has transitioned into intense, rapid-fire action, with policy announcements that could address the high cost of food, electricity, housing, credit card rates, medicine and gasoline among other things.
—David Goldman, CNN Money, 20 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for rapid-fire
Recent Examples of Synonyms for rapid-fire
Adjective
-
Most structural components were 3D-printed in Polylactic Acid (PLA), enabling fast iteration and part replacement throughout the build, highlighting the flexibility of rapid prototyping in robotics development.—
Jijo Malayil,
Interesting Engineering,
10 Feb. 2026
-
Retailers claim the digital tags improve efficiency by allowing for rapid, store-wide price updates.—
Francesca Pica,
jsonline.com,
10 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
Lemon entered his plea during a brisk court appearance on Friday, multiple outlets reported, after he was arrested last month in Los Angeles.—
Winston Cho,
HollywoodReporter,
13 Feb. 2026
-
Although a good portion of this album still sounds like Kurt Vile going through a Sly Stone phase, the kumbaya squishiness of the past few records has hardened into a brisk antagonism.—
Eli Enis,
Pitchfork,
13 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
Use citrus peels or baking soda with vinegar for a quick and natural way to clean and deodorize the garbage disposal effectively.—
Hallie Milstein,
Southern Living,
10 Feb. 2026
-
Trump’s response to this has been to float policies that promise a quick hit of relief.—
Rogé Karma,
The Atlantic,
10 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
What India is doing could also be mirrored in other emerging economies, which may be able to harness increasingly cheap wind and solar at an even faster rate to power their economic development, Bond said.—
Laura Paddison,
CNN Money,
11 Feb. 2026
-
Performance gains in cars, drones, and robots In laboratory tests, the system processed motion data four times faster than current state-of-the-art algorithms.—
Sujita Sinha,
Interesting Engineering,
11 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
As his health faded in the last year of his life, Neruda rushed to finish his story, which gives the last chapters of his book a galloping, fragmented quality.—
Tunku Varadarajan,
WSJ,
25 June 2021
-
Designed by renowned architect Dominique Perrault, its four stories tilting forward are said to evoke a galloping horse.—
Rob Hodgetts at Longchamp,
CNN,
15 Oct. 2019
Cite this Entry
“Rapid-fire.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rapid-fire. Accessed 15 Feb. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
