quick as lightning
Faster than blinking
Quick as lightning describes extreme speed—something happening almost instantaneously, faster than the eye can track.
The phrase draws on lightning's apparent immediacy, the flash arriving before we register it: She was quick as lightning with a comeback.
Often used for reflexes, wit, or sudden movements.
- fastSpeedy, or skip eating
- boltThreaded rod for nuts
- bolt from the blueSudden unforeseen event
- flashBrief burst of light
- in a flashWithout any delay
instant · blink of an eye · speedy · rapid · streak · swift · blink · zoom · dash · thunder · storm · electric · strike · split-second · split second · blazing · hasty · whip
- Speed Expressionsin a flash, in no time, lickety-split, lickety split, in a jiffy
speed
quick as lightningslow as molasses
Extremely sluggish pace
at a snail's pace · tortoise-like · sluggish · snail-paced · plodding
quick, quickly, quickness, quicker, quickest, quicken, quickened, quickening, lightning