promptly

adverb

prompt·​ly ˈpräm(p)t-lē 

ˈpräm-plē

1

: in a prompt manner : without delay : very quickly or immediately

I'm going to speak French again, something I learned in school and promptly forgot.

—Deanna Pai

Treatment is promptly resumed until the virus is suppressed again, and then stopped to see if the patient's immune system is able to keep the viral levels in check.

—Joan Stephenson

2

: exactly at a particular time or the correct time

She arrived promptly at 7:00 p.m. as we had agreed.

Synonyms

• bang
• directly
• forthwith
• headlong
• immediately
• incontinently
• instantaneously
• instanter
• instantly
• now
• PDQ
• plumb
• presently
• pronto
• right
• right away
• right now
• right off
• straight off
• straightaway
• straightway

Examples of promptly in a Sentence

shipped the package promptly so that it would arrive on time

Recent Examples on the Web

Be sure to follow up promptly after conferences to make the most of networking opportunities. —Leigh Cuen, Forbes, 5 Nov. 2024

Abbie Doctor, an aesthetics nurse living in Gloucester, England, caught the bizarre moment her cat, Chewie, brought a live mouse into the house, and promptly brought it for something to eat. —Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 5 Nov. 2024

Indiana witnessed a bump in registrations promptly following her social media post. —Bryan West, USA TODAY, 4 Nov. 2024

Hammer posts an odd video on Instagram monologuing about selling his 2017 trunk, promptly going viral. —Lydia Wang, Vulture, 1 Nov. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1