like lightning
At shocking speed
Like lightning describes something happening with extreme speed or sudden intensity.
Lightning strikes in an instant, so the comparison emphasizes quickness: She moved like lightning to catch the falling vase.
The phrase can also suggest startling force or brilliance: The idea hit him like lightning.
- instantaneousHappening without any delay
- thunderboltElectric sky discharge with boom
- rapidMoving with haste
- flashBrief burst of light
- electrifyingIntensely thrilling or stimulating
swift · strike · blinding · zigzag · spark · white hot · abrupt · all of a sudden · bolt · without warning · forked · bolt from the blue · out of the blue · at once · in an instant · fleeting · in no time · quick as a flash
- Speed Expressionsin a flash, quick as a flash, in no time, lickety-split, lickety split
- sudden thingssuddenly, abruptly, unexpectedly, instantly, spontaneous
- urgencyurgent, urgently, emergency, ASAP, stat
- suddennesssudden, suddenly, abrupt, abruptly, instant
like lightninglike pulling teeth
laboriously · painstakingly · gradually · bit by bit · methodically
like lightninggradually
In slow stages
incrementally · slowly but surely · by degrees · step by step · bit by bit
like, likely, unlike, liking, dislike, lighten, lightning, likelihood, likable