DictionaryAI

immediately

i-MEE-dee-uht-lee/ɪˈmiːdi.ətli/

4 meanings of immediately

Practice

  1. 1
    at onceadverb
    At once, without any delay or pause.

    The manager responded immediately to the customer's complaint.

    When the alarm sounded, everyone immediately left the building.

    Similarinstantly, promptly, straightaway, directly, forthwith

    Oppositelater, eventually

  2. 2
    very nextadverb
    With no space or time coming in between.

    Her seat was immediately to the left of the stage.

    The two events followed immediately one after the other.

    UsageUsually right before a word of place or time: immediately behind the house, immediately after the speech.

    Similardirectly, right, just

    Note

    Here the word measures closeness rather than speed: nothing stands between two things or two moments.

  3. 3
    conjunction
    At the moment that something happens; as soon as it occurs.

    Immediately the doors opened, the shoppers poured into the store.

    He apologized immediately he realized his mistake.

    UsageChiefly in British English, a full clause follows without another linking word: Immediately he saw her, he knew. It means as soon as.

    Similaronce, when

    Note

    An adverb pressed into service as a conjunction, it introduces a full clause of time with no as or that to link it. The clause can lead, set off by a comma, as in D. H. Lawrence's Women in Love (1920): "Immediately he saw the firm, …"

Less common meaning

  1. 4
    adverb
    In a direct way, with no other person or thing in between, especially regarding who is responsible for something or who it affects.

    The shift supervisor is immediately responsible for safety on the factory floor.

    The new rules will matter most to the workers immediately concerned, not to the company as a whole.

    UsageUsually before responsible, concerned or affected: the people immediately affected. Use directly if it could be read as 'at once'.

    Similardirectly

    Oppositeindirectly

    Note

    The idea of nothing coming between moves here from time and space to people and responsibility. Watch the ambiguity: the workers immediately concerned are the ones most directly involved, not workers who suddenly became worried.

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of immediately apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origin

Already found in Middle English as immediatly: the adjective immediate with the suffix -ly added.