headlong
adverb
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Definition of headlong
(Entry 1 of 2)
headlong
adjective
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Definition of headlong (Entry 2 of 2)
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Synonyms & Antonyms for headlong
Synonyms: Adverb
cursorily, hastily, hotfoot, hurriedly, pell-mell, precipitately, precipitously, rashly
Synonyms: Adjective
cursory, drive-by, flying, gadarene, hasty, helter-skelter, hurried, overhasty, pell-mell, precipitate, precipitous, rash, rushed
Antonyms: Adverb
Antonyms: Adjective
deliberate, unhurried, unrushed
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Examples of headlong in a Sentence
Adverb
I dove headlong to the floor. plunged headlong into the crowd in pursuit of the purse snatcherAdjective
terrified forest creatures in a headlong retreat from the rapidly spreading fire
Recent Examples on the Web: Adverb
Before diving headlong into how to use your new multimeter, give Fluke's introductory articles into multimeters a read as well. — Joseph Truini, Popular Mechanics, "How To Use a Digital Multimeter," 25 July 2019 South Carolina rushed headlong into separation from the union, voting to secede before year’s end, but the Virginia convention called to consider the issue resisted strenuous appeals from its neighbors to join a proslavery Confederacy. — Drew Gilpin Faust, The Atlantic, "Race, History, and Memories of a Virginia Girlhood," 18 July 2019 There is a time and place for diving headlong into the bag. — Patrick Saunders, The Denver Post, "Saunders: Rockies’ Trevor Story should think first before sliding headfirst," 22 June 2019 Their epistolary friendship ends suddenly, with no explanation, until a drunken Griffin sends Luca an angry letter that tosses them headlong back into their friendship with a new element of heat. — Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, "Vi Keeland and Penelope Ward talk the inherent sexiness of letter writing, reveal Dirty Letters cover," 18 July 2019 The Dutch had been taken to the edge of their capacity, and then pulled headlong beyond it. — Rory Smith, New York Times, "Stars and Stripes (and Wins) Forever," 7 July 2019 In moments like this, the messiness and close observation of Buchheim’s novel run headlong into the by now fairly rote rhythms of international prestige TV. — Adrian Daub, The New Republic, "Hulu’s Das Boot Gets Lost at Sea," 19 June 2019 The company is joining the scrum of companies rushing headlong into meat alternatives after Beyond Meat Inc.’s sizzling initial public offering in May left them playing catch-up. — Bloomberg, latimes.com, "Tyson’s answer to the fake-meat craze: A burger that’s half beef, half pea," 13 June 2019 After throwing herself headlong into the fight, she was seized up by a wight – which, by the way, just never get any less horrifying close up – which summarily crushed her to death. — Emma Dibdin, Harper's BAZAAR, "Game of Thrones," 29 Apr. 2019Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective
Its data shows that GAAP earnings are still growing, though at a crawl compared with the headlong sprint over the last few years. — Shawn Tully, Fortune, "Corporate Earnings are Flatlining—and That’s Terrible News for the Stock Market," 31 Aug. 2019 Noseda has a particular way with Beethoven: fresh and helium-light and so fleet that the strings almost floated offstage in the headlong blink-and-you’ll-miss-it passagework of the trio section of the third-movement scherzo. — Anne Midgette, Washington Post, "How the NSO and Noseda brought fresh air to the summer heat at Wolf Trap," 28 July 2019 As a depiction of ordinary people who fall into an unavoidable commotion, this film is: a comedy without clowns, a tragedy without villains, all leading to a violent tangle and a headlong plunge down the stairs. — Nick Romano, EW.com, "New Parasite trailer previews Bong Joon-ho's Cannes winner," 14 Aug. 2019 Frenette had never held or run for political office before, making his headlong leap into the political fray nothing if not a bold move. — Chris Eggertsen, Billboard, "46 Shows in 46 Cities to Elect the Next President: New Campaign Aims to Unseat Donald Trump With a Coordinated Music Effort," 24 July 2019 The two countries are fighting over US allegations that China deploys predatory tactics — including stealing trade secrets and forcing foreign firms to hand over technology — in a headlong drive to challenge American technological dominance. — Joe Mcdonald, BostonGlobe.com, "China imports from US plunge 31 percent in June amid tariff war," 12 July 2019 While there is little reason to expect another tech bubble, there are signs that VCs are rethinking their headlong rush into blitzscale investments. — Leonard Sherman, WIRED, "'Blitzscaling' Is Choking Innovation—and Wasting Money," 11 July 2019 No, Dems’ practical efforts are best directed toward bottling up Trump’s headlong regulatory rollback and attendant gross corruption. — David Roberts, Vox, "After the midterms, US climate politics are even more polarized. Here’s how Dems can move forward.," 12 Nov. 2018 Unlike some rivals, Mr. Gindi avoided heavy debt and headlong growth. — James R. Hagerty, WSJ, "Al Gindi Helped Found Century 21 Department Stores, a Discount Fashion Powerhouse," 31 Aug. 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'headlong.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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