Hastened

Hastened is the past tense and past participle of the verb hasten. It means to cause or move something to occur sooner, or to speed up a process or event. It can describe deliberate actions intended to bring about a quicker outcome, or the effect of circumstances that accelerate something.

In use, hastened is typically transitive: the subject acts to speed things along. Examples include, “The authorities hastened the evacuation,” “Her illness hastened her decline,” and “Weather conditions hastened the departure of the ships.” The term can also describe time itself in a literary sense, as in, “The closing minutes hastened toward dusk.”

As an adjective, hastened describes something that has been made to occur more quickly. Commonly used phrases include a hastened departure or a hastened pace, signaling urgency or accelerated action. Examples: “They took a hastened approach to the project,” or “a hastened release date.” The adjective tends to appear in formal or written contexts rather than everyday speech.

Related terms include hasten (the base verb), which carries the default sense of causing speed or urgency, and faster or quicker as more everyday alternatives. In contrast, synonyms like accelerate, expedite, or quicken emphasize speed, while delay or hinder contrast with hastened actions by slowing progress.

In sum, hastened denotes increased speed or urgency applied to an action or event, usable as both a verb form and an adjective in appropriate contexts.