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Both mean to move or act with haste.

Do the following sound the same?

  • I'm in a rush.
  • I'm in a hurry.
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1 Answer

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While both suggest haste, rush has a stronger implication of carelessness than hurry.

This is not absolute though, to the point where I would likely just sound them out and decide from meter. Still, if I either wanted to explain a mistake or a discomfort - or by the same token, if I wanted to emphasise that the lack of error was in the face of having to do the task quickly - then I would favour rush.

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lack of error is carefulness, why would you use rush then? – juk Jan 10 at 16:27
@juk Lack of error is more remarkable when you are forced into carelessness - I really had to rush, but it still passed all the unit tests is more remarkable than It still passed all the unit tests. – Jon Hanna Jan 10 at 16:29
So rush is kinda more superlative than hurry? – juk Jan 10 at 16:50
I wouldn't even go that far. They're pretty close synonyms. Hurry possibly comes from a word meaning "buzz" or "vibrate" and hence more directly suggests a flurry of activity, but rush doesn't rule out such a case. But one would be more likely to speak disdainfully of something having been a "rushed job" than a "hurried job". – Jon Hanna Jan 10 at 17:05

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