immediacy
noun
im·me·di·a·cy
i-ˈmē-dē-ə-sē 
British often -ˈmē-jə-sē
plural immediacies
1
: the quality or state of being immediate
the immediacy of a live performance
2
: something that is immediate
the immediacy of our need
—usually used in plural
the basic immediacies of life
Examples of immediacy in a Sentence
Television coverage gave the war greater immediacy than it had ever before had.
There is an immediacy to watching a live performance that you cannot get from hearing a recording.
Recent Examples on the Web
The sophisticated set by ace production designer David Gropman enables Altman’s perpetually moving and zooming camera to drift in and out of two-way mirrors that depict memories and fantasies with both immediacy and a gauzy nostalgia.
—
Jim Hemphill, IndieWire, 1 May 2026
The great rappers tend to work with that kind of immediacy.
—New York Times, 28 Apr. 2026
The transparent nature of providing live updates—often with caveats about accuracy or sometimes later corrections—captures simultaneously a claim to immediacy and uncertainty that has a unique epistemic value in its own right.
—Daniel Jackson, Encyclopedia Britannica, 27 Apr. 2026
Sets from upstarts like Creepy Nuts, Pawsa, Geese and Slayyyter, along with emphatic crowds at rock heavyweights like Jack White, Turnstile and even Sombr, traded seamlessness and precision for immediacy and friction — louder, looser, more physical in ways that were best felt than watched.
—Andrea Domanick, Los Angeles Times, 26 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for immediacy
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Jim Hemphill, IndieWire, 1 May 2026
The great rappers tend to work with that kind of immediacy.
—New York Times, 28 Apr. 2026
The transparent nature of providing live updates—often with caveats about accuracy or sometimes later corrections—captures simultaneously a claim to immediacy and uncertainty that has a unique epistemic value in its own right.
—Daniel Jackson, Encyclopedia Britannica, 27 Apr. 2026
Sets from upstarts like Creepy Nuts, Pawsa, Geese and Slayyyter, along with emphatic crowds at rock heavyweights like Jack White, Turnstile and even Sombr, traded seamlessness and precision for immediacy and friction — louder, looser, more physical in ways that were best felt than watched.
—Andrea Domanick, Los Angeles Times, 26 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for immediacy
Cite this Entry
“Immediacy.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/immediacy. Accessed 2 May. 2026.
Copy CitationKids Definition
immediacy
noun
im·me·di·a·cy
im-ˈēd-ē-ə-sē
plural immediacies
1
: the quality or state of being immediate
2
: something that is of immediate importance
immediacies of daily life
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