INSTANTLY

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does instantly mean? 

• INSTANTLY (adverb)
  The adverb INSTANTLY has 2 senses:

1. without delay or hesitation; with no time intervening

2. without any delay

  Familiarity information: INSTANTLY used as an adverb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• INSTANTLY (adverb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Without delay or hesitation; with no time intervening

Synonyms:

at once; directly; forthwith; immediately; instantly; like a shot; now; right away; straight off; straightaway

Context example:

Come here now!

Sense 2

Meaning:

Without any delay

Synonyms:

in a flash; instantaneously; instantly; outright

Context example:

he was killed outright

 Context examples 

Lady Bertram agreed with her instantly.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

Excitement instantly seized the whole party: a running fire of raillery and jests was proceeding when Sam returned.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

My generous friend reassured the suppliant, and on being informed of the name of her lover, instantly abandoned his pursuit.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

I knew the name, the place, I knew all about it, and instantly saw what she had been doing.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

He read it aloud: Come instantly, 131, Pitt Street, Kensington.—LESTRADE.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

This was instantly intriguing – could these calls really be a mode of communication between humans and a wild animal?

(How humans and wild Honeyguide birds call each other to help, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Subordinate meerkats die due to sudden, unpredictable circumstances such as exposure to predators, killing them instantly.

(Breeder meerkats age faster, but their subordinates still die younger, University of Cambridge)

Mrs. Dashwood would have interrupted her instantly with soothing tenderness, had not Elinor, who really wished to hear her sister's unbiased opinion, by an eager sign, engaged her silence.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

Her start was perceptible only to herself; but she instantly felt that she was the greatest simpleton in the world, the most unaccountable and absurd!

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

I plunged instantly into my subject.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)