shortly - Wiktionary, the free dictionary (original) (raw)

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

From Middle English schortly, schortliche, from Old English sċortlīċe (“shortly; before long; soon”), equivalent to short +‎ -ly.

shortly (not comparable)

  1. In a short or brief time or manner; quickly.
    • 1862, Mary Elizabeth Braddon, Lady Audley's Secret:
      […] his two ill-conditioned, canine favorites, which sat shivering before the smoky little fire, barking shortly and sharply now and then, by way of hinting for some slight refreshment.
  2. In or after a short time; soon.
    The past perfect progressive is used for actions and situations which had continued up to a past moment or shortly before it.
    • 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter IV, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC, page 46:
      No matter how early I came down, I would find him on the veranda, smoking cigarettes, or otherwise his man would be there with a message to say that his master would shortly join me if I would kindly wait.
    • 2005, Annabelle du Fouet, “The murky world from whence it all came” (chapter 2), in Weather Balloons Make Rotten Sex Toys, Ellora's Cave, →ISBN, pages 48–49:
      The few men left alive figured that whatever the Spanish wanted to do to them, it couldn’t be any worse than that, so they surrendered quickly and shortly afterward got their heads cut off by the Spaniards, who at that time were a rather bloodthirsty lot themselves.
    • 2023 November 22, Brammhi Balarajan, “US interfaith communities draw on decades-long bonds to navigate Israel-Hamas War”, in CNN‎[1]:
      Kaplan-Miller said she first joined the Sisterhood of Salaam Shalom, an interfaith organization that was founded by a Muslim and a Jewish woman in suburban New Jersey, shortly after the 2016 election.
  3. In few words.
    Synonyms: briefly, concisely
    Ideas are generally expressed more shortly in verse than in prose
  4. In an irritable ("short") manner.
    Synonyms: abruptly, curtly
    "Stop interrupting me, will ya?" she said shortly.
    • 2009, Susanne James, The Millionaire's Chosen Bride, page 147:
      'Well, I still think it was a rather off-hand way for you—for anyone—to behave,' he said shortly.
      Suddenly Melody felt trapped—and annoyed. And she didn't like being spoken to like a child, either.

in a short or brief time or manner

in or after a short time

in few words; briefly

shortly

  1. alternative form of schortly (adjective)

shortly

  1. alternative form of schortly (adverb)
    • 14th Century, Chaucer, General Prologue
      Now have I toold you shortly in a clause
      Now that I have briefly told you above