Skip to main content
PlainSpell

instantly

UK /ˈɪnstəntli/adverb, conjunction

instantly is spelled I-N-S-T-A-N-T-L-Y: 9 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 17 times per million words in written English, the 4,838th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adverb, instantly means “At once; without delay” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in instantly?

Letters9: I-N-S-T-A-N-T-L-Y
Syllables3 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing17 times per million words; the 4,838th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How common is instantly?

Instantly appears 17 times per million words in written English, the 4,838th 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 instantly?

  • UK /ˈɪnstəntli/

Instantly has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-instantly.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of instantly

  • enstantly rare

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does instantly mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

adverb

  1. 1

    At once; without delay.

    When the neighbours' dog barked, ours instantly replied with a howl.

  2. 2

    archaicUrgently; with insistence.

  3. 3

    obsoleteAt the same time.

conjunction

  1. 1

    As soon as, directly.

    I phoned instantly I heard you were back.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How do you abbreviate instantly?

Wiktionary records one abbreviation of instantly: instly.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Instantly in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchinstantanément (at once), instamment (urgently; with insistence)
Germanunmittelbar (at once)
Portugueseinstantaneamente (at once)
Spanishal instante, al tiro, instantáneamente, en un tris, en un tris tras (at once)

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 instantly come from?

From instant + -ly.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after instantly