Chinese word

火速

Pronunciation

Pinyinhuǒ sù

Meaning

  • adverbimmediately

Example

火速赶来救援。huǒ sù gǎn lái jiù yuán

They immediately came to the rescue.

Illustration for 火速 (immediately)

More examples

公司火速采取行动，避免扩大损失。gōng sī huǒ sù cái qǔ xíng dòng bì miǎn kuò dà sǔn shī

The company immediately took action to avoid further losses.

Core concept

A burst of action that moves at once with the force and urgency of fire.

Common phrases

  • 火速开展调查huǒ sù kāi zhǎn diào chá

    immediately launch an investigation

  • 火速采取行动huǒ sù cái qǔ xíng dòng

    immediately take action

  • 火速恢复秩序huǒ sù huī fù zhì xù

    immediately restore order

Similar words

马上mǎ shàng: Doing something very soon in everyday speech.
立刻lì kè: Doing something immediately in a somewhat formal way, with almost no time in between.
立即lì jí: Carrying out an action without delay in official or formal language.
赶紧gán jǐn: Hurrying to do something, often as a spoken prompt for someone to act quickly.

Definition in Chinese

用作副词，表示以非常快、几乎立刻的速度去做某事，常带有紧急或加速的意味。yòng zuò fù cí biǎo shì yǐ fēi cháng kuài jī hū lì kè de sù dù qù zuò mǒu shì cháng dài yǒu jǐn jí huò jiā sù de yì wèi

Word origin

火 (huǒ, "fire") + 速 (sù, "speed") uses the rapid spread of fire as a vivid model for action that happens without delay.

Usage tips

  • The word is common in urgent notices and instructions, but it can sound dramatic when used for an ordinary task such as sending a message.

Other meanings

  • quicklyadverb
  • urgentlyadverb

Opposites

  • 慢速màn sùslowlyadverb

Word lists with this word