Haladéktalan

Haladéktalan is a Hungarian adjective meaning without delay, immediate, or urgent. It indicates that a stated action must take place promptly and without any grace period. The related adverb haladéktalanul conveys the same sense of immediacy, as in acting without delay.

Etymology and usage notes: haladéktalan is built from haladék, meaning delay or grace period, and the suffix -talan, meaning without. While haladéktalan is used attributively before a noun (for example, haladéktalan intézkedés – an immediate measure), the adverbial form haladéktalanul is common when describing how something should be done.

In practice, haladéktalan is frequent in formal, administrative, and legal language, as well as in journalism, to emphasize urgency or mandatory immediacy. It often appears in instructions or orders from authorities, and in sentences such as haladéktalan intézkedést hozni (to take immediate action) or kérjük, haladéktalanul válaszoljanak (please respond without delay). The nuance is stronger than that of azonnali, and it implies an obligation to proceed immediately rather than simply being done soon.

See also:

- haladék

- haladéktalanul

- azonnal

- sürgős

Notes: While closely related to general notions of promptness, haladéktalan carries formal weight and is most common in official or juridical contexts.