haste

The word "haste" refers to speed or excessive speed that leads to mistakes.

• In her haste, she forgot to bring her laptop to work this morning.
• Realizing they were in danger, they left the country in great haste.
• The sloppiness of the work was attributed to carelessness and haste.
• Haste makes waste. (This is a fairly common expression. If you do something too quickly, you are likely to make a costly mistake.)

The adjective form of this word is "hasty."

• Don’t be too hasty.
• Try not to make a hasty decision. Slow down and think about this.
• She came to a hasty conclusion after seeing her boyfriend with another woman.
• Fearing for his life, the soldier made a hasty retreat.

He made a hasty retreat.

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This page was originally published on April 8, 2014.