What does incontinently mean?
Incontinently is a literary and now rather dated adverb meaning “immediately” or “without delay.” It gives an instruction or report a sense of abruptness: “Wait here,” he said incontinently, suggests that no hesitation followed the words. The word can also be encountered in older writing in the sense of “unrestrained” or “lustfully,” but that meaning is now obsolete and is chiefly of historical interest. Although modern speakers would normally choose “immediately,” “at once,” or “promptly,” incontinently survives in formal, theatrical, archaic, and literary contexts, where its unusual sound adds urgency and period colour. It is useful to know because the word looks less common than it once was: it appeared in early modern English and in Shakespeare, but its modern occurrence is much rarer. In present-day English, the dominant sense is unequivocally temporal, while the older sexual or unrestrained sense should not be inferred from ordinary current usage.
adverbImmediately, without delay. In older usage, it also meant in an unrestrained or lustful manner.
- Immediately, without delay.
- Formerly, without restraint, especially lustfully; now obsolete.
"The guard opened the gate incontinently when he saw the approaching flames."
"She left the room incontinently when her phone rang."
"He spoke incontinently of his desires, without shame or restraint."
Incontinently is “immediately” with a Shakespearean spotlight: once ordinary, now poised to make a sentence feel suddenly theatrical.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does incontinently come from?
The word comes through Medieval Latin from Latin incontinenter, an adverb based on incontinens, meaning “not restrained” or “uncontrolled.” Incontinens combines the prefix in-, expressing negation, with continens, a form of continere, “to hold together.” English later established “immediately, without delay” as the dominant sense, while the older meaning “lustfully” or “without restraint” has fallen out of use.
How incontinently is actually used
The temporal sense is literary, dated, and uncommon but still understood in both British and American English. The older sense meaning “unrestrained” or “lustfully” is obsolete and chiefly encountered in historical writing.
Easily confused with incontinently
Incontinently is an adverb meaning “immediately,” whereas incontinent is an adjective describing a person unable to control bodily functions or, in older usage, sexual impulses.