immediacy
Without any delay
Immediacy is the quality of being direct, instant, or without intervening distance.
News coverage gains immediacy when broadcast live.
A letter lacks the immediacy of a phone call.
The word often describes emotional impact—art with immediacy affects you viscerally, without requiring reflection: The photograph's immediacy was overwhelming.
In philosophy, immediacy refers to knowledge or experience unmediated by reasoning or interpretation.
Briefest unit of time
- real-timeOccurring without processing delay
- instantaneousHappening without any delay
- split-secondFraction of a moment
- momentBrief period of time
present · simultaneous · live · synchronous · concurrent · happening · unfolding · nanosecond
Without intervening agency
- firsthandWithout intermediary
- directUndeviating or to guide
- face-to-faceDirect personal encounter
- personalRelating to one's self
raw · visceral · unfiltered · hands-on · intimate · in-person · one-on-one · point-blank
Requiring immediate attention
- time-sensitiveRequiring prompt action
- criticalExpressing disapproval or importance
- deadlineTime limit for completion
- crisisDecisive dangerous moment
emergency · expedite · priority · imperative · haste · rush · prompt · swift
Sudden urge to act
- impromptuWithout advance preparation
- extemporaneousDone without advance preparation
- unplannedNot arranged beforehand
- instinctiveArising without conscious thought
unrehearsed · offhand · ad-lib · improvised · spur-of-the-moment · gut · snap · reflex
Nearness in space
- closenessState of proximity
- tangibilityQuality of being touchable
- palpabilityCapacity to be touched
- vividnessIntense clarity or lifelikeness
accessibility · salience · embodiment · encounter · engagement · felt · near · at-hand
instant
Briefest unit of time
- real-timeOccurring without processing delay
- instantaneousHappening without any delay
- split-secondFraction of a moment
moment · present · simultaneous · live · synchronous · concurrent · happening · unfolding · nanosecond · millisecond
unmediated
Without intervening agency
- firsthandWithout intermediary
- directUndeviating or to guide
- face-to-faceDirect personal encounter
personal · raw · visceral · unfiltered · hands-on · intimate · in-person · one-on-one · point-blank · straight
pressing
Requiring immediate attention
- time-sensitiveRequiring prompt action
- criticalExpressing disapproval or importance
- deadlineTime limit for completion
crisis · emergency · expedite · priority · imperative · haste · rush · prompt · swift · rapid
impulse
Sudden urge to act
- impromptuWithout advance preparation
- extemporaneousDone without advance preparation
- unplannedNot arranged beforehand
instinctive · unrehearsed · offhand · ad-lib · improvised · spur-of-the-moment · gut · snap · reflex · unscripted
proximity
Nearness in space
- closenessState of proximity
- tangibilityQuality of being touchable
- palpabilityCapacity to be touched
vividness · accessibility · salience · embodiment · encounter · engagement · felt · near · at-hand · within-reach
- time preferencedelayed gratification, instant gratification, discounting, impatience, self-control
- proximitynear, close, nearby, nearness, proximity
- problem traitsseverity, complexity, urgency, scope, impact
- nownow, present, moment, instant, today
- proximity wordscloseness, nearness, vicinity, adjacency, contiguity
- seize todaycarpe diem, seize the day, seize the moment, live for today, present moment
immediacydelay
Enforced waiting period
latency · deferral · postponement · gradualness · slowness
immediacyindirectness
Lack of straightforwardness
mediation · remoteness · distance · intermediation · separation
immediacydetachment
Separation or emotional uninvolvement
remoteness · distance · abstraction · disconnection · remove
- immediate familyClosest relatives by blood
- immediate gratificationDesire for quick pleasure
- immediate futureTime just ahead
- immediate familiesClosest blood relations
- immediate surroundings
- immediate reactionUndelayed response to stimulus