Meaning & use
instantaneously
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Meanings
adverbnot comparableformal
Right away, with no noticeable delay at all.
Grammar: Goes with verbs of happening and responding: the light came on instantaneously.
Patterns
- respond instantaneously
- change instantaneously
The lights came on instantaneously when she touched the switch.
The app updates instantaneously across all devices.
He reacted instantaneously and caught the falling glass.
adverbnot comparabletechnical
In a time so short that it cannot be measured or perceived as a gap.
Grammar: Often found in science writing about signals and reactions.
Patterns
- occur instantaneously
- travel instantaneously
The chemical reaction occurs almost instantaneously.
No signal can travel instantaneously across such a distance.
The sound seemed to reach them instantaneously.
Common combinations
- respond instantaneously
- The software responds instantaneously to every command.
- happen instantaneously
- The change did not happen instantaneously but over many years.
- almost instantaneously
- The fire spread almost instantaneously through the dry brush.
- freeze instantaneously
- The animal can freeze instantaneously at the first sign of danger.
- transmitted instantaneously
- Messages are transmitted instantaneously around the world.
Synonyms and how they differ
- instantly
- Instantly is shorter and more common in everyday speech, while instantaneously sounds more formal and technical.
- immediately
- Immediately means without waiting, but it does not necessarily imply the near-zero time that instantaneously does.
- at once
- At once is a plain phrase for right now, and it can describe orders or reactions that are not literally instant.
- simultaneously
- Simultaneously means at the same time as something else, not at once after a cause, so it is different from instantaneously.
Opposites
Word family
- instantaneous adjective
- happening or done in an instant
- instant noun
- a very short moment of time
- instantly adverb
- immediately
- instantaneity noun
- the quality of happening instantly
Commonly confused: instantaneously or simultaneously? instantaneously or spontaneously?
instantaneously vs simultaneously
Simultaneously means at the same moment as something else, while instantaneously means immediately or with no delay.
instantaneously vs spontaneously
Spontaneously means without planning or outside cause, which is a different idea from speed.
Practice
Which adverb is closest in meaning to 'with no delay at all'?
Choose one answer.
Instantaneously means with no delay. Simultaneously means at the same time as something else, and gradually and occasionally describe slow change and infrequency.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “instantaneously”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.