straightaway

C2+ Topic:Transportation

Also spelled straight-away

US /ˌstreɪtəˈweɪ/ UK /ˌstreɪtəˈweɪ/ See IPA manual

adv noun

Meanings

1

adv
immediately, at once; or a straight stretch of road or track

She set off straightaway, without pausing for breakfast.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adv · immediately, at once; or a... immediately instantly directly forthwith promptlyright awayat once

Opposites

eventually later gradually

Word family

Related forms straight away

Etymology

A compound of 'straight' (Middle English 'streght', past participle of 'strecchen', to stretch) and 'away', meaning 'in a straight, direct manner', hence 'at once'.

strecchen Middle English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Transportation Word Formation & Derivatives

# straightaway

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adv, noun
**IPA (US):** ˌstreɪtəˈweɪ
**IPA (UK):** ˌstreɪtəˈweɪ

## Meanings
1. immediately, at once; or a straight stretch of road or track

## Examples
- She set off straightaway, without pausing for breakfast.

## Synonyms
- immediately
- instantly
- directly
- forthwith
- promptly
- right away
- at once

## Antonyms
- eventually
- later
- gradually

## Related Forms
- straight
- away

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: strecchen

## Etymology
A compound of 'straight' (Middle English 'streght', past participle of 'strecchen', to stretch) and 'away', meaning 'in a straight, direct manner', hence 'at once'.

## AI Etymology
Straightaway is a compound of 'straight' (Middle English 'streght', past participle of 'strecchen', to stretch) and 'away', meaning 'in a straight, direct manner', hence 'at once'. Important recorded forms include strecchen (Middle English). Morphologically, the word preserves a built structure whose named elements carry the historical sense into English. The modern sense continues the older lexical line without requiring a separate origin. In current use it covers immediately, at once; or a straight stretch of road or track. The wider family includes related words such as straight and away.

## Topics
- Transportation
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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straightaway

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