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
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Breezing with dispatch around the speedy Neoequos and Madaket Road, who had been a pacesetters up the backstretch, Tappan Street took his almost electrically precise stride well outside the fading duelists to lay down his burst of power.—Guy Martin, Forbes.com, 30 Mar. 2025 Several Hawks couldn’t say for sure who’s the speediest.—Phil Thompson, Chicago Tribune, 28 Mar. 2025 Cora pinch-ran for Campbell with the speedy David Hamilton, further pressuring the defense.—Jen McCaffrey, New York Times, 28 Mar. 2025 When dangerous lapses in judgment and privacy breaches occur in the business world, speedy investigations lead to prompt discipline and systemic repairs.—Paul Du Quenoy, MSNBC Newsweek, 26 Mar. 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
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