trice
8 synonyms for trice, grouped by meaning and by how common each one is.
Noun — A very short time; a moment. Almost always used in the phrase "in a trice".
Synonyms
Everyday swaps
Common words most readers know — safe in any writing.
Less common
Still standard English, but they carry more weight.
Rare, literary or technical
Precise, but they will stand out — check the sense before using one.
How to use trice
The word patterns that sound natural to a native speaker.
in a trice
done in a trice
gone in a trice
Dated and literary. Fine in narrative prose, out of place in technical or business writing.
Etymology
From Middle Dutch trisen, "to hoist", related to trise, a pulley. The noun originally meant a single pull or tug on a rope, and from "at one pull" came the sense of a single instant.
Full origin of trice →Frequently asked questions
Is "trice" still used today?
Only inside the fixed phrase "in a trice", which survives in writing and in older or more literary speech. You will almost never hear "trice" used as a standalone noun, and the nautical verb is confined to sailing texts.
What is the difference between "in a trice" and "in a jiffy"?
They mean the same span of time — almost none. "In a jiffy" is casual, chatty and more common in speech; "in a trice" sounds old-fashioned and slightly literary, and turns up mostly in writing.
Does trice have anything to do with three?
No, despite the resemblance to Latin tri-. It comes from a Dutch word meaning to hoist or pull, and the number three plays no part in it.
