right away[adverb]Synonyms: immediately, at once, directly, forthwith, instantly, now, pronto
(informal), straightaway
English Thesaurus: immediately, at once, right away, instantly, right now/this minute, ... [TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲
immediately very soon after something else happens, and without any delay:
Sam immediately offered to help.at once immediately – used especially for emphasis:
Remove the pie from the oven and serve at once. He came home at once when he heard his wife was ill.right away (
also straightaway British English)
especially spoken immediately, especially because something is urgent.
Right away and
straight away are less formal than
immediately, and are very common in everyday spoken English:
If this happens, let us know right away. I apologized straightaway.instantly if something happens instantly, it happens immediately after something else, with almost no time between:
The boy was killed instantly. The message is sent instantly from your computer.right now/this minute spoken if someone orders you to do something right now, they want you to do it immediately, especially because they are annoyed with you:
The head teacher wants to see you right now.without delay immediately, because it is important that you do something as soon as possible:
If you lose your passport, you should contact the embassy without delay. [TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲