| Main Entry: | |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | early, responsive |
| Synonyms: | alert, apt, brisk, eager, efficient, expeditious, immediate, instant, instantaneous, on the ball, on the button, on the dot, on the nose, on time, precise, punctual, quick, rapid, ready, smart, speedy, swift, timely, unhesitating, vigilant, watchful, wide-awake, willing |
| Antonyms: | late, negligent, slow, tardy |
| Main Entry: | apt |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | quick to learn |
| Synonyms: | able, adept, astute, bright, clever, expert, gifted, ingenious, intelligent, no dummy, nobody's fool, not born yesterday, prompt, quick on the trigger, quick on the uptake, ready, savvy, sharp, skilled, skillful, smart, talented, teachable |
| Notes: | apt is for general probabilities, likely is for specific probabilities; liable and prone indicate a probability arising as a regrettable consequence |
| Antonyms: | incapable, stupid, unskilled |
| Main Entry: | deft |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | agile, clever |
| Synonyms: | able, adept, adroit, apt, crack, cute, dexterous, expert, fleet, handy, having good hands, having know-how, ingenious, neat, nimble, proficient, prompt, quick, ready, skilled, skillful |
| Antonyms: | awkward, clumsy, inept, unhandy, unskillful |
| Main Entry: | dexterous |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | ingenious, proficient |
| Synonyms: | able, active, acute, adept, adroit, agile, apt, artful, canny, clever, crack*, crackerjack*, deft, effortless, expert, facile, handy, having the know-how, masterly, neat, nimble, nimble-fingered, prompt, quick, savvy, skilled, skillful, slick, sly, smooth |
| Notes: | though dexterous (skillful with the hands) is preferably spelled with two e's, ambidextrous has only one |
| Antonyms: | awkward, clumsy, inept, inexpert, unable, unhandy, unskilled |
| Main Entry: | direct |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | face-to-face; next to |
| Synonyms: | contiguous, firsthand, head-on, immediate, lineal, next, personal, primary, prompt, proximate, resultant, succeeding |
| Antonyms: | indirect |
| Main Entry: | early |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | sooner than expected |
| Synonyms: | advanced, ahead of time, anticipative, anticipatory, before appointed time, beforehand, direct, immature, immediate, matinal, on short notice, on the dot, overearly, oversoon, preceding, precipitant, precocious, preexistent, premature, previous, prompt, pronto, punctual, quick, seasonable, soon, speedy, unanticipated, unexpected, untimely |
| Antonyms: | later |
| Main Entry: | expeditious |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | immediate, speedy |
| Synonyms: | active, alert, breakneck, brisk, diligent, effective, effectual, efficient, fast, fleet, hasty, instant, nimble, prompt, punctual, quick, rapid, ready, swift |
| Antonyms: | pokey, retarded, slow |
| Main Entry: | fluent |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | articulate |
| Synonyms: | chatty, cogent, copious, cursive, declamatory, disputatious, easy, effortless, effusive, eloquent, facile, flowing, garrulous, glib, liquid, loquacious, mellifluent, mellifluous, natural, persuasive, prompt, quick, ready, running, silver-tongued, smooth, smooth-spoken, talkative, verbose, vocal, voluble, well-versed, wordy |
| Antonyms: | effortful, hesitant, inarticulate, unfluent, unprepared |
| Main Entry: | hasty |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | speedy; without much thought |
| Synonyms: | PDQ, abrupt, agile, brash, breakneck, brief, brisk, careless, chop-chop, cursory, eager, expeditious, fast, fiery, fleet, fleeting, foolhardy, harefooted, headlong, heedless, hurried, ill-advised, impatient, impetuous, impulsive, incautious, inconsiderate, madcap, on the double, passing, perfunctory, precipitate, prompt, pronto, quick, quickened, quickie, rapid, rash, reckless, rushed, short, slambang, slapdash, snappy, sudden, superficial, swift, thoughtless, urgent |
| Antonyms: | delayed, lazy, lingering, loitering, slow |