Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

pronto

/ˈpɹɑntoʊ/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.86 in modern English

Syllables: pron-to
IPA: /ˈpɹɑntoʊ/

8

Scrabble Score

6

Letters

2

Syllables

5

Unique Chars

Meaning

adv

Quickly, very soon, promptly.

Informal

adj

Informal

Example Sentences

"I need to finish this assignment pronto."
"“[…] I burst through the door with a pregnancy bump and shouted at him, pretending to be his mistress. I’ve never seen a man look so horrified in his life. I then went into a spontaneous lip-sync of ‘I Will Survive’.” (We need footage, pronto.)"
"You really can't handle hot weather. If a host has a fever, get out of there pronto."
"For a pronto lunch, take a slice or two to work and team with a tasty salad."
"In pronto reaction time, Zeth chose to drive a black armored truck, […]"
"Wow! With a pronto 'Poof' from Funky, Bronto the Brontosaurus appears."

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish pronto, from Latin prōmptus. Doublet of prompt.

Origin

Source language: Latin

Word Breakdown

Root: prōmptus

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ˈpɹɑntoʊ/
British English: /ˈpɹɒntəʊ/

Usage

Informal

Inflected Forms

more pronto (comparative) most pronto (superlative)

Phrases

pronto plate

Frequently Paired Words

pronto plate

Synonyms

promptly readily

Rhymes With

toronto adelanto

Questions

How do you pronounce pronto?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈpɹɑntoʊ/.
What does pronto mean?: Quickly, very soon, promptly.
Where does pronto come from?: It is traced to Latin.

How to pronounce pronto

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “pronto”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈpɹɑntoʊ/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “pronto”.
Repeat and practice — Say “pronto” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.