posthaste

See also: post-haste and post haste

English

WOTD – 22 June 2006

Alternative forms

• post-haste, post haste

Etymology

From the former instruction on letters ‘haste, post, haste’, later reinterpreted as a compound of post +‎ haste.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌpəʊstˈheɪst/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˌpoʊstˈheɪst/

• Audio (US)

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• Audio (AU)

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Adverb

posthaste (not comparable)

1. quickly, as fast as someone travelling post; with great speed

   It is imperative that you finish your task posthaste.

   • 1946, Paramahansa Yogananda, “Chapter 17”, in Autobiography of a Yogi:

     "Sasi cannot last through the night." These words from his physician, and the spectacle of my friend, now reduced almost to a skeleton, sent me posthaste to Serampore.

Synonyms

• (quickly): ASAP, quickly
• See also Thesaurus:quickly

Noun

posthaste (uncountable)

1. Alternative spelling of post-haste
   • c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals), page 1, lines 103-106:

     "And this, I take it,
     Is the main motive of our preparations
     The source of this our watch, and the chief head
     Of this post-haste and rummage in the land."