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hasty

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

Letters

5 characters

Language

English

word origin

Source

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Detailed reference entry for the English word "hasty", 5-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "hasty" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "hasty" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

hasty is anEnglishadj. It means: Acting or done in haste; hurried or too quick; speedy due to having little time. Pronounced /ˈheɪsti/. Often confused with hat and hay.

Key facts for hasty
PropertyValue
Headwordhasty
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdj
IPA/ˈheɪsti/
Letters5
Frequency rank#19,854
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of hasty in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for hasty is 5 letters long, classified as anadj, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈheɪsti/. Corpus data places it at rank #19,854 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it.Wiktionary records 8 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 8 documented wrong-spelling variants for hasty, with forms such as "ahsty", "hassty", and "hastty". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "hat", "hay", "hate", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English hasty, of obscure origin. Likely a new formation in Middle English equivalent to haste + -y, found as in other Germanic languages (Old Frisian hâstich, Middle Dutch haestich (> Dutch haastig (“hasty”)), Middle Low German hastich (“hasty”… Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is hasty, spelled H-A-S-T-Y, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    Acting or done in haste; hurried or too quick; speedy due to having little time.
  2. 2
    Acting or done in haste; hurried or too quick; speedy due to having little time.
  3. 3
    Acting or done in haste; hurried or too quick; speedy due to having little time.
  4. 4
    Acting or done in haste; hurried or too quick; speedy due to having little time.
  5. 5
    Acting or done in haste; hurried or too quick; speedy due to having little time.
  6. 6
    Speedy, quick, rapid (without necessarily lacking time).
  7. 7
    Irritable, irascible; quickly or easily excited to anger.
  8. 8
    Heavy, violent.

Etymology

From Middle English hasty, of obscure origin. Likely a new formation in Middle English equivalent to haste + -y, found as in other Germanic languages (Old Frisian hâstich, Middle Dutch haestich (> Dutch haastig (“hasty”)), Middle Low German hastich (“hasty”), German hastig, Danish hastig, Swedish hastig (“hasty”)); otherwise possibly representing an assimilation to the foregoing of Middle English hastive, hastif (> English hastive), from Old French hastif (Modern French hâtif), from Frankish *haifst (“violence”), ultimately of the same Germanic origin.

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: ahsty,hassty,hastty,hastyy,hasyt,hatsy,hhasty,hsaty

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for hasty

Misspelling Variants of "hasty"

ahsty5hassty6hastty6hastyy6hasyt5hatsy5hhasty6hsaty5
Misspelling Variants of "hasty"

Frequency rank: #19,854 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "hasty"?
"hasty" is spelled H-A-S-T-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈheɪsti/.
What does "hasty" mean?
As an adj, "hasty" means: Acting or done in haste; hurried or too quick; speedy due to having little time.
What words are commonly confused with "hasty"?
"hasty" is commonly confused with "hat", "hay", "hate". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "hasty"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "hasty" is /ˈheɪsti/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "hasty"?
From Middle English hasty, of obscure origin. Likely a new formation in Middle English equivalent to haste + -y, found as in other Germanic languages (Old Frisian hâstich, Middle Dutch haestich (> Dutch haastig (“hasty”)), Middle Low German hastic... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter H in our English index:

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Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.