upon the instant
- idiom
- Archaic
:
inmediatamente
- The manager offered her the job upon the instant she finished the interview.
Examples
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The troops retreated upon the instant the order was given.
-
He apologized upon the instant he realized his mistake.
-
He replied upon the instant.
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The decision was made upon the instant.
-
He apologized upon the instant he realized his mistake.
-
The manager offered her the job upon the instant she finished the interview.
-
The troops retreated upon the instant the order was given.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
Right after something happens
∞
1.0
At once without waiting
∞
1.0
On something or immediately after it happens
∞
1.0
Right after one thing happens
960
1.0
Without any delay
344
1.0
Immediately without delay
330
1.0
Right away without any delay
121
2.8
Immediately at the exact place where something happens, often needing a quick response
45
3.2
Do something immediately at that moment
How Immediate
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'immediately; without delay' is directly derivable from combining 'upon' (on/at or immediately after) with 'the instant' (a tiny point in time). This is a straightforward compositional pattern (e.g. 'at the instant', 'on the instant') that is cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words should be able to understand the MWE, despite its slightly formal/archaic register.
Etymology
The phrase upon the instant comes from an older way of speaking: instant used to mean 'the very moment' something happened and upon means 'on' that moment. So upon the instant means 'immediately' or 'without any delay'.