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Instantly vs Momentarily - What's the difference?

instantly | momentarily |

As adverbs the difference between instantly and momentarily

is that instantly is (archaic) urgently; with insistence while momentarily is in a momentary manner; for a moment or instant.

instantly

English

Alternative forms

* enstantly (rare) * instantlie (obsolete) * instauntly (obsolete)

Adverb

(-)
  • (archaic) Urgently; with insistence.
  • *, II.27:
  • Theoxena although she were instantly urged thereunto, could never be induced to marry againe.
  • At once; without delay.
  • *
  • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=5 , passage=Then we relapsed into a discomfited silence, and wished we were anywhere else. But Miss Thorn relieved the situation by laughing aloud, and with such a hearty enjoyment that instead of getting angry and more mortified we began to laugh ourselves, and instantly felt better.}}
  • * {{quote-news, year=2011, date=November 10, author=Jeremy Wilson, work=Telegraph
  • , title= England Under 21 5 Iceland Under 21 0: match report , passage=The most persistent tormentor was Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who scored a hat-trick in last month’s corresponding fixture in Iceland. His ability to run at defences is instantly striking, but it is his clever use of possession that has persuaded some shrewd judges that he is an even better prospect than Theo Walcott. }}

    momentarily

    English

    Adverb

    (-)
  • In a momentary manner; for a moment or instant.
  • (US) In a moment or very soon; at any moment.
  • Progressively; moment by moment.
  • Usage notes

    * Many speakers object to the use of momentarily'' in the sense of “''in'' a moment” rather than “''for'' a moment”, since this is inconsistent with the meaning of (momentary);Just a Moment]”, by (William Safire), ''(New York Times),'' May 11, 1997''I Stand Corrected: More on Language,'' by William Safire [http://books.google.com/books?client=iceweasel-a&id=1fuhvj8icSsC&dq=momentarily&q=momentarily
  • search_anchor pp. 137–138, ] nonetheless, this use is quite common in North America, and is particularly associated with airlines, such as “we will be landing momentarily”.On language, by William Safire, 1980, [http://books.google.com/books?client=iceweasel-a&id=mrJZAAAAMAAJ&dq=momentarily&q=momentarily p. 9 In place of ''momentarily , many speakers prefer the terms (presently), (soon) or the phrase “in a moment”, for this sense of “in a moment”.
  • References