From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishsoonsoon /suːn/ ●●● S1 W1 adverb (comparative sooner, superlative soonest) 1 SOONin a short time from now, or a short time after something else happens It will be dark soon. David arrived sooner than I expected.soon after Paula became pregnant soon after they were married. ‘Who?’ ‘You’ll find out soon enough (=fairly soon).’2 quickly How soon can you finish the report? Try and get the car fixed as soon as possible.3 → as soon as4 → the sooner ( ... ) the better5 → the sooner ... the sooner6 → no sooner had/did ... than7 → sooner or later8 → too soon9 → no sooner said than done10 → not a moment too soon/none too soon11 → somebody would sooner do something (than)12 → somebody would (just) as soonTHESAURUSsoon in a short time from now, or a short time after something else happensSee you soon!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 soonThe book will be on sale in the near future.in no time (at all) very soon – used to talk about something good happeningYou’ll be feeling better in no time at all.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 minutesI’ll be ready in a minute.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 whenThey 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 whenI’m hoping to hear from her any day now.shortly formal a short time from nowThey will be with us shortly.the new laws that will shortly be coming into effectbefore long especially literary soon – used especially when something happens which you expected to happenThey got married, and before long Anna was expecting a baby.it will not be long used when saying that something will happen soonIt won’t be long before everything is back to normal. I knew that it wouldn’t be long before the same thing happened again.
Examples from the Corpus
soon• Why wasn't I told about this sooner?• In the evening the wind became stronger and soon a great storm broke above us.• They set off soon after breakfast.• They left soon after the birth, and Ariel could tell they were glad to.• I came as soon as I could.• Please reply as soon as possible.• As soon as the daughter leaves the room, Louise asks what is the matter.• As soon as the harvesting was done, the overseer called him to the porch of the house.• It'll soon be Christmas.• The track soon becomes rocky and steep, but not too much of a challenge for a decent four-wheel drive.• Driving in the city was hard at first, but she soon got used to it.• We soon realized how difficult the job was going to be.• But he soon returned and attacked her again.• They came back much sooner than we had anticipated.• We need to get him to a hospital, and the sooner the better.soon enough• Finally I dragged myself away, telling myself that I'd get a chance to use it properly soon enough.• Her aloofness at the interview at the Ritz is a punishment for him not calling her back soon enough.• If they didn't know now, Jed thought, they'd know soon enough.• Not the tapping baton of Conductor Richard Armstrong-although his powers over an able orchestra become evident soon enough.• Sir John would talk soon enough.• The negative will probably come soon enough.• I would think of a way to start an argument soon enough, I thought, falling asleep.• Soon enough, it started to rain.• We were taken to a room in another building which soon enough was packed to the rafters with people.as soon as possible• A call for papers has been issued and abstracts should be submitted as soon as possible.• But today the walk was just something to be accomplished as soon as possible.• Spread this across the surface of the slide with the other cover-glass, and view as soon as possible.• Kindly rectify this as soon as possible and consult Betty Syrett if you have any doubts or queries on the subject.• Please contact Rita as soon as possible if you would like to attend.• I had to paint the gashes as soon as possible so that rust would not begin to bite into Wavebreaker's long sleekness.• We must enact as soon as possible the National Human Welfare Act in order to regulate the use of humans in research.Origin soon Old English sona “immediately” 