immediately

I

(Roget's IV) modif.

Syn. at once, without delay, instantly, directly, right away, instanter, at the first opportunity, forthwith, straightaway, in a trice, in that instant, at short notice, now, this instant, speedily, quickly, promptly, on the spot, on the dot, rapidly, summarily, instantaneously, unhesitatingly, shortly, tout de suite (French), before you could say Jack Robinson*, on the double*, now or never*, in a jiffy*, straight off*, right off the bat*, pronto*, PDQ*; see also quickly 1 , 2 .

Ant. in the future, later*, in a while.

II

(Roget's 3 Superthesaurus) a.

instantly, at once, without delay, now, presently, *in a wink, *in a heartbeat, *licketysplit, forthwith, *pronto, directly, *PDQ, *in a New York minute, *tout de suite, *before you can say ''Jack Robinson,'' *before you can say ''Bob's your uncle,'' *in a jiffy.

ANT.: eventually, later

III

(Roget's Thesaurus II) adverb 1. Without delay: directly, forthwith, instant, instantly, now, right away, right off, straightaway, straight off. Idioms: at once, first off. See TIME. 2. Without intermediary: directly. See CLEAR, NEAR.