expeditious
adjective
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The Real Root of Expeditious
Expeditious has had quite the journey through the English language. It comes to us from the related noun expedition, which in turn comes from the Latin verb expedire (“to set free” or “to make ready”). When expedition first set forth in English in the 1400s, it did so with two meanings that are still in use today, “a journey especially by a group of people for a specific purpose” and “efficient promptness.” Expeditious later followed as an adjectival form of the latter. Something (such as, say, preparation for a long voyage) done expeditiously is done quickly and efficiently; in other words, it is expedited. Like expeditious and expedition, expedite too comes from expedire.
Examples of expeditious in a Sentence
Brooke Crothers, Forbes, 19 Oct. 2024
His ascent was met with an equally expeditious fall.
—Carrie Battan, The New Yorker, 13 Aug. 2024
An easy breakfast or expeditious snack, a smoothie is the deliciously healthy cousin to an ice cream shake.
—Tribune News Service, The Mercury News, 26 June 2024
But that would have been awkward and not the most expeditious way of accomplishing the task.
—Dan Rodricks, Baltimore Sun, 23 Feb. 2024
See all Example Sentences for expeditious 
Dictionary Entries Near expeditious
Cite this Entry
“Expeditious.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/expeditious. Accessed 22 Nov. 2024.
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expeditious
adjective
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