Meaning

3 senses

  1. Fast; quick; rapid.

    swift action

    swift response

    flink, rasch

    бы́стрыйbýstryj, ско́рыйskóryj, стреми́тельныйstremítelʹnyj

    швидки́йšvydkýj

    moving very fast

  2. Capable of moving at high speeds.

  3. (informal)Quick-thinking; bright.

Examples

70 sentences

  1. The stream is not very swift.

    ruТечение не очень быстрое. — marafon

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · B2Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  2. Life is short and time is swift.

    ruЖизнь коротка, а время стремительно. — Hellerick

    deDas Leben ist kurz und die Zeit vergeht im Fluge. — pne

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  3. The stream isn't very swift.

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · B2Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  4. Jonathan Swift would defend me.

    ruДжонатан Свифт меня бы защитил. — marafon

    CP · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · B1Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  5. The swallow is swift in flight.

    ruЛасточка быстра в полёте. — Ivanovb

    AlanF_US · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · B2Open on TatoebaReport a problem

Translations

9 languages
Українська
By meaning 1
fast; quick; rapid:
Русский
By meaning 1
fast; quick; rapid:
Deutsch
By meaning 1
fast; quick; rapid:

Origin

From Middle English swift, from Old English swift (“swift; quick”), from Proto-Germanic *s

From Middle English swift, from Old English swift (“swift; quick”), from Proto-Germanic *swiftaz (“swift; quick”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)weyp- (“to twist; wind around”). Cognate with Icelandic svipta (“to pull quickly”), Old English swīfan (“to revolve, sweep, wend, intervene”). More at swivel.

Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source

Forms

swifter, swiftest
Comparativeswifter Lesson
Superlativeswiftest Lesson

regular

Synonyms

1 synonyms
Close in meaning

Word family

23 related words
Relatedswift-footednessswift-handednessswiftness
Derivedgold swiftoutswiftoverswiftswiftboatswiftenswift-flowingswift-flyingswiftfootswift-footedswift foxswift halfswift-handedswiftieswiftlyswift parrotswift ternswift-thinkingswiftwaterswiftwingultraswift

Lessons for this word

2 lessons

See also

neighbours in the dictionary
swelterswerveswiftlyswigswill

Dictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.

swift — meaning, examples, forms, synonyms | Krumeto