立刻 (lìkè)

立刻 describes an action happening immediately, without any delay, equivalent to "at once," "right away," or "immediately."

Meanings

[adverb] Immediately; at once; right away (no delay between trigger and action).

Example Sentences

听到消息后，他立刻给家人打了电话。 Tīng dào xiāoxi hòu, tā lìkè gěi jiārén dǎ le diànhuà. After hearing the news, he immediately called his family.

老师一说开始，学生们立刻安静下来。 Lǎoshī yī shuō kāishǐ, xuéshengmen lìkè ānjìng xiàlái. As soon as the teacher said "begin," the students immediately quieted down.

如果你感到不舒服，请立刻告诉我。 Rúguǒ nǐ gǎndào bù shūfu, qǐng lìkè gàosu wǒ. If you feel unwell, please tell me right away.

警报响了，大家立刻跑向出口。 Jǐngbào xiǎng le, dàjiā lìkè pǎo xiàng chūkǒu. When the alarm went off, everyone immediately ran toward the exit.

Collocations

Collocation	Meaning
立刻出发	depart immediately
立刻回答	answer at once
立刻行动	act immediately
马上立刻	right away immediately (emphatic)

Usage Notes

立刻 and 马上 are near-synonyms, both meaning "immediately." 马上 is more colloquial and can sometimes imply "very soon" (not yet done), while 立刻 more strictly means "at this very moment." Both are very common in daily speech.

Memory Hook

立 means "to stand up" and 刻 means "a moment/to carve"; picture standing up at this very carved moment in time — action starts instantly.