soon
/suːn
/- Zoe soon arrived and we headed back to Gee's where we sat outside and tried not to sound geeky.
- Go the other way and you will soon arrive on one of the fabulous southern beaches.
- I know of men who are in danger of losing their home if the money doesn't arrive soon.
Synonyms
- At this early stage it is too soon to say whether it has been a good or bad thing to do or what the repercussions of it all might be.
- I kept putting her off, telling her it was too soon and if we bought it too early it would go off.
- Sadly, we have also seen, all too soon, the bitter truth that lives are lost in wars.
Synonyms
- That was one of those race days Id just as soon forget.
- I would as soon die as suffer that.
Synonyms
Usage
In standard English the phrase no sooner is followed by than, as in we had no sooner arrived than we had to leave. This is because sooner is a comparative, and comparatives are followed by than (earlier than; better than, and so on). It is incorrect to follow no sooner with when rather than than, as in we had no sooner arrived when we had to leave.
Phrases
no sooner —— than
sooner or later
sooner rather than later
Derivatives
soonish
- I'm going to cut over to them soonish, and I want to share my good fortune with you (with apologies to Allan, but I'm sure he'll understand).
- Since the majority (though not by any stretch all) of my friends have either turned 30 in the last few years or are about to soonish, I figured I'd do the same.
- I guess the clocks must be going forward soonish…
Origin
Old English sōna 'immediately', of West Germanic origin.
Over the centuries soon has become less urgent. In Anglo-Saxon times it meant ‘immediately, without delay’. A similar case is presently, which also used to mean ‘immediately’ and now means ‘soon’. The same thing is happening today with expressions like directly, just a moment, and in a minute. The idiomatic phrase sooner you than me is recorded from the 15th century; as soon meaning ‘rather’ dates from the late 16th century; (Irish poet W. B. Yeats Hour-Glass: ‘I'd as soon listen to dried peas in a bladder as listen to your thoughts’).