in a hurry

English

Prepositional phrase

in a hurry

1. (adjectival) Rushed, hurried; short of time.

   I can’t stop now. I'm in rather a hurry.

   • 1984, Nena, Kevin McAlea (lyrics and music), “99 Red Balloons”, in 99 Luftballons:

     To worry, worry, super-scurry / Call out the troops now in a hurry

2. (adverbial) In a hurried manner.

Usage notes

• Although it is not comparable, hurry can be qualified using in a great hurry, in more of a hurry, etc.

Derived terms

• moron in a hurry

Translations

rushed, hurried; short of time

• Arabic: مُسْتَعْجِل (mustaʕjil)
• Bulgarian: нетърпеливо (bg) (netǎrpelivo)
• Cherokee: ᎤᏩᏅᎦ (uwanvga) (be in a hurry)
• French: en hâte, pressé (fr)
• Galician: á présa, ás présas
• German: in Eile; es eilig haben (be in a hurry)
• Irish: faoi dheifir; deifir a bheith ort (be in a hurry)
• Jamaican Creole: pon haste
• Ngazidja Comorian: na fidjo
• Ojibwe: wewiib
• Portuguese: com pressa
• Spanish: apurado (es)
• Welsh: ar frys

Further reading

• “in a hurry”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “in a hurry” in Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, Longman.
• “in a hurry”, in Collins English Dictionary.