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Definitions

timely

[tahym-lee] / ˈtaɪm li /


Frequently Asked Questions

What is another word for timely?
Timely is used to describe something that happens at the right time or the scheduled time, as in a timely payment or a timely delivery. In this case, you could substitute timely with prompt or on-time. Timely can also describe something that happens at a time that’s best or most beneficial. In these cases, you can use words like appropriate, fitting, or well-timed. If something is timely in a lucky or coincidental way that leads to good fortune, you could describe it as serendipitous, as in Your card with the extra cash was especially serendipitous—it arrived on the day I ran out of money. Serendipitous indicates a level of good fortune that timely doesn’t necessarily imply.
What’s a synonym for timely manner?
When something is done in a timely manner, you could say that it was done in a timely fashion or that it was done promptly, which emphasizes that it was done quickly or right away. Saying that something was done quickly implies speed but not necessarily that it was done well or that it met the required deadline. Something done in a timely manner could be said to have been done efficiently, which suggests that it was done properly and without wasting time.
How do you use timely in a sentence?
Timely is a pretty common word that’s typically used in the context of when and how things are, should be, or are required to be done or completed. Despite it’s -ly ending, it’s never used as an adverb—It’s always used as an adjective, often in phrases like timely manner and timely fashion. Here are some examples of timely in a sentence:
  • It’s impossible to get to school in a timely manner without coffee—I feel like I’m in slow motion otherwise.
  • Pay your bills in a timely fashion, or you’ll rack up a lot of late fees. 
  • Your email was very timely—it answered the question I was about to ask!

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

Exxon said it doesn’t believe a move to semiannual reporting “would result in a reduction of material or timely information available to investors because material quarterly information is disclosed independently.”

From The Wall Street Journal Jul. 17, 2026

“We remain committed to helping facilitate the timely disbursement of insurance proceeds as requirements are met.”

From Los Angeles Times Jul. 17, 2026

X proposed measures that would boost access by researchers, including to ad content, and respond on a timely basis.

From Barron's Jul. 15, 2026

The carefree, sweat-drenched timelessness of Madonna’s new music couldn’t help but scratch against a very timely problem: Everything’s really bad, and finding space to let yourself forget that is increasingly difficult.

From Salon Jul. 8, 2026

“Your Diversion,” says I. To which he replies, “There can be little Doubt that without your timely Interference, I should have been dispatched by the Musketry of the Regulars.”

From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party" by M.T. Anderson

Yet A House of Dynamite could scarcely be timelier.

From Slate Mar. 13, 2026

The Education Department’s recent launch of a portal for universities’ foreign-funding disclosures was even timelier than officials likely realized.

From The Wall Street Journal Jan. 28, 2026

But unfortunately for the Fed, the timelier releases won’t come until after, Reid added.

From Barron's Nov. 24, 2025

CMS also argues the VRDC, which is already used by some external researchers, provides data in a timelier and more cost-effective manner.

From Science Magazine May 9, 2024

An event   That could not timelier prove for our petition!

From The German Classics of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, Volume 04 Masterpieces of German Literature Translated into English. in Twenty Volumes by Francke, Kuno

“Payrolls tend to be a better guide to the economy’s true momentum than the timeliest estimates of GDP,” wrote Sam Tombs, chief U.S. economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics in a note Tuesday.

From Barron's Oct. 21, 2025

The timeliest hit Sunday came from first baseman Carlos Santana, with whom the Mariners are 11-1 since acquiring him from the Royals.

From Seattle Times Jul. 10, 2022

“Phase Six,” about a future pandemic, is his timeliest novel yet.

From Los Angeles Times Jul. 19, 2021

But Bolshevism on Trial is the movie that the Jennings Daily Times-Record of Jennings, Louisiana famously proclaimed “the timeliest picture ever screened” on June 3, 1919!

From Slate Feb. 23, 2020

To die "untimely," as men called it, was the timeliest of all deaths for one who had carved his youth to greatness.

From Zuleika Dobson, or, an Oxford love story by Beerbohm, Max, Sir




Vocabulary lists containing timely


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