headlong
UK /ˈhɛd.lɒŋ/ · US /ˈhɛd.lɔŋ/ adverb, adjective, verb
Forms headlongs headlonging headlonged
- adverb With the head first or down.
- adverb With an unrestrained forward motion. “Figures out today show the economy plunging headlong into recession.”
- adverb Rashly; precipitately; without deliberation; in haste, hastily.
- adjective Precipitous.
- adjective Plunging downwards head foremost.
- adjective Rushing forward without restraint.
- adjective (figuratively) Reckless; impetuous.
- verb (transitive) To precipitate.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Etymology
From Middle English hedlong, alteration of hedling, heedling, hevedlynge (“headlong”), assimilated to long. More at headling.
Webster’s 1913
- adverb With the head foremost; as, to fall headlong. Acts i. 18.
- adverb Rashly; precipitately; without deliberation.
- adjective Rash; precipitate; as, headlong folly.
- adjective Steep; precipitous. [Poetic]
Etymology [OE. hedling, hevedlynge; prob. confused with E. long, a. & adv.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “headlong”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details