short ‧ ly S3 W3 /ˈʃɔːtli $ ˈʃɔːrt-/ BrE AmE adverb
[ Word Family: noun : ↑ short , ↑ shortage , ↑ shortness , shorts, ↑ shorty ; verb : ↑ shorten , ↑ short ; adverb : ↑ short , ↑ shortly ; adjective : ↑ short ]
1 . soon:
Ms Jones will be back shortly.
shortly before/after something
The accident happened shortly before midday.
2 . written speaking in an impatient and unfriendly way SYN abruptly :
‘I’ve explained that already,’ Rod said shortly.
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THESAURUS
▪ soon in a short time from now, or a short time after something else happens:
See you soon!
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It seemed difficult at first, but I soon got used to it.
▪ in the near future in the next few weeks or months. In the near future is more formal than soon :
The book will be on sale in the near future.
▪ in no time (at all) very soon – used to talk about something good happening:
You’ll be feeling better in no time at all.
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In no time at all, her son was starting to speak Japanese.
▪ in a minute spoken used to say that you will do something or something will happen within a few minutes:
I’ll be ready in a minute.
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The film’s going to start in a minute.
▪ any minute now spoken used to say that something will or may happen very soon, but you do not know exactly when:
They should be here any minute now.
▪ any day now spoken used to say that something will or may happen in the next few days, but you do not know exactly when:
I’m hoping to hear from her any day now.
▪ shortly formal a short time from now:
They will be with us shortly.
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the new laws that will shortly be coming into effect
▪ before long especially literary soon – used especially when something happens which you expected to happen:
They got married, and before long Anna was expecting a baby.
▪ it will not be long used when saying that something will happen soon:
It won’t be long before everything is back to normal.
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I knew that it wouldn’t be long before the same thing happened again.