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Timely vs Instantly - What's the difference?

timely | instantly |

In archaic|lang=en terms the difference between timely and instantly

is that timely is (archaic) in good time; early, quickly while instantly is (archaic) urgently; with insistence.

As adverbs the difference between timely and instantly

is that timely is (archaic) in good time; early, quickly while instantly is (archaic) urgently; with insistence.

As an adjective timely

is done at the proper time.

timely

English

Adjective

(er)
  • Done at the proper time.
  • Happening or appearing at the proper time.
  • * Milton
    • The timely dew of sleep.
  • * {{quote-news
    • , year=2011 , date=October 20 , author=Jamie Lillywhite , title=Tottenham 1 - 0 Rubin Kazan , work=BBC Sport citation , page= , passage=The athletic Walker, one of Tottenham's more effective attacking elements with his raids from right-back, made a timely intervention after Rose had been dispossessed and even Aaron Lennon was needed to provide an interception in the danger zone to foil another attempt by the Russians.}}
  • (obsolete) Keeping time or measure.
    • (Spenser)

    Synonyms

    * (done at the proper time ): well-timed * (happening or appearing at the proper time ): opportune, seasonable

    Antonyms

    * (done at the proper time ): badly timed, ill-timed * (happening or appearing at the proper time ): inopportune, unseasonable

    Derived terms

    * mistimely * overtimely * timelily * timeliness * timely-parted * untimely

    Adverb

    (en adverb)
  • (archaic) In good time; early, quickly.
  • * 2000 , (George RR Martin), A Storm of Swords , Bantam 2011, p. 587:
    • ‘If I had been born more timely , he said, Rhaegar would have married me instead of Elia, and it would all have come out different.’
  • (obsolete) At the right time; seasonably.
  • * 1646 , (Thomas Browne), Pseudodoxia Epidemica :
    • And this we shall more readily perform, if we timely survey our knowledge, impartially singling out those encroachments, which junior compliance and popular credulity hath admitted.

    See also

    * seasonably

    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. }}