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单词 instant
释义
instant
(once / 49 pages)
nadj

An instant is a very short time. In combinations like instant coffee and instant replay it means available right away without a wait.
Instant and moment mean the same thing if you are talking about a particular time in the past like you remember the instant or moment you realized that you had won the lottery. However, the two words are very different when talking about time in the future. "I'll be there in an instant" means you're coming as quickly as possible, whereas if you say "I'll be there in a moment," someone is going to have to wait a bit for you.
CHOOSE YOUR WORDS
instant / instance

Around the Vocabulary.com office, we might like an instance of tea, but we vehemently oppose instant tea.

That's because instance means an example or an occurrence:

Police investigated five instances of criminal mischief to motor vehicles on Forest Avenue

A student in the engineering academy, for instance, would have to take three engineering-specific electives.

There was an instance in a game in August where the catwalk came into play.

Instant, on the other hand, mean immediately or urgently:

Easy Reader: Philip Roth's Nemesis an Instant Classic

Starbucks announced last summer it would start retailing flavored instant coffee, and here it is.

Now think about the times when you fell victim to the instant desire to buy that new shinny thing.

Oddly enough, the two are related. Instance dates back to 1380 as meaning the current time, but it comes from the Medieval Latin (through Old French) instantia, which refers to both presence and urgency. Instant dates to about the same time, prior to 1398, as meaning a specific moment. It comes from the Medieval Latin instantem, meaning present and urgent. Instant picked up its modern meaning of immediately around 1443 from its English definition and instance seems to have never meant urgency, creating a distinction between the two.

But instant tea is still disgusting.

WORD FAMILY
instant: instancy, instantaneous, instanter, instantly, instants+/instantaneous: instantaneously, instantaneousness
USAGE EXAMPLES
At the time, The Economic Consequences of the Peace created an instant controversy.
The Guardian(Jan 02, 2017)
Under the initiative, transactions are subject to federal screenings through the FBI-run National Instant Criminal Background Check System.
Washington Times(Jan 01, 2017)
When these “unthinkables” then happened, markets responded with an instant panic plunge before bouncing back.
The Guardian(Dec 31, 2016)
1n a very short time (as the time it takes the eye to blink or the heart to beat)
Syn|Hyper
New York minute, blink of an eye, flash, heartbeat, jiffy, split second, trice, twinkling, wink
bit, minute, mo, moment, second
an indefinitely short time
2n a particular point in time
Syn|Hypo|Hyper
minute, moment, second
climax, culmination
the decisive moment in a novel or play
eleventh hour, last minute
the latest possible moment
moment of truth
a crucial moment on which much depends
moment of truth
the moment in a bullfight when the matador kills the bull
pinpoint
a very brief moment
time
a suitable moment
psychological moment
the most appropriate time for achieving a desired effect
high time
the latest possible moment
occasion
the time of a particular event
point, point in time
an instant of time
3adj occurring with no delay
instant gratification
Syn
instantaneous
fast
acting or moving or capable of acting or moving quickly
4adj demanding attention
an instant need
Syn
clamant, crying, exigent, insistent
imperative
requiring attention or action
5adj in or of the present month
Syn
inst
present
temporal sense; intermediate between past and future; now existing or happening or in consideration
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更新时间:2024/12/23 23:18:17