immediate
im·me·di·ate/ɪˈmi.di.ɪt/adjective
immediate is spelled I-M-M-E-D-I-A-T-E, 4 syllables: im·me·di·ate. The wrong spelling people search most is imediate: about 180 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 17 of all searches for the word. Immediate is an adjective meaning “Happening right away, instantly, with no delay”.
How many letters and syllables are in immediate?
| Letters | 9: I-M-M-E-D-I-A-T-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4: im·me·di·ate |
| In writing | 33 times per million words; the 2,888th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 1; the most searched, imediate, about 180 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How do you spell immediate?
Immediate is spelled I-M-M-E-D-I-A-T-E. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 17 of the searches for immediate in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is immediate?
Immediate appears 33 times per million words in written English, the 2,888th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce immediate?
- UK /ɪˈmiː.dɪət/
- UK /ɪˈmiː.d͡ʒɪt/
- US /ɪˈmi.di.ɪt/
Immediate has 4 syllables, split im·me·di·ate in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-immediate.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of immediate
- more immediate comparative
- most immediate superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does immediate mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Happening right away, instantly, with no delay.
Computer users these days expect immediate results when they click on a link.
- 2
Very close; direct or adjacent.
immediate family; immediate vicinity
- 3
Manifestly true; requiring no argument.
- 4
Embedded as part of the instruction itself, rather than stored elsewhere (such as a register or memory location).
- 5
Used to denote that a transmission is urgent.
Bravo Three, this Bravo Six. Immediate! We are coming under fire from the north from an unknown enemy, over!
- 6
An artillery fire mission modifier for two types of fire mission to denote an immediate need for fire: Immediate smoke, all guns involved must reload smoke and fire. Immediate suppression, all guns involved fire the rounds currently loaded and then switch to high explosive with impact fused (unless fuses are specified).
Hotel Two-Niner, this is Bravo Six. Immediate suppression at grid November-Kilo four-five-three two-one-five. Danger Close. I authenticate Golf Echo, over.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate immediate?
Wiktionary records one abbreviation of immediate: immed..
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Immediate in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | immédiat , proche |
| German | sofortig , unmittelbar, immediat |
| Portuguese | imediato |
| Spanish | inmediato |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does immediate come from?
From Old French immediat (French immédiat), borrowed from Late Latin immediātus (“without in-between, moderation”), from Latin in + mediātus, perfect passive participle of mediō (“to halve, to be in the middle”) (see -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from medius (“middle”). By surface analysis, im- + mediate.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).