abruptly
Americanadverb
-
without warning; suddenly or unexpectedly.
Not noticing that the car in front of him had stopped abruptly, he rear-ended it.
-
in few words and without using any polite formulas; brusquely.
My 14-year-old son was calling; as soon as I picked up, he asked abruptly, “How long till you get home?”
-
steeply; sharply.
At one end, the meadow flowed into a large valley; at the other, it dropped off abruptly in a cliff.
Other Word Forms
- unabruptly adverb
Etymology
Origin of abruptly
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The cruise operator has had an eventful few weeks, abruptly changing its CEO and then facing pressure from Elliott.
From Barron's
But Abraham abruptly left his position last month, citing issues with a close relative’s health.
Late last year, she was reading a book called “Strangers: A Memoir of Marriage,” about a woman disentangling the family finances after her husband of 20 years abruptly leaves her.
The hearing abruptly went off the record as staff scrambled to figure out who had violated House rules.
From Salon
Opera just a month after the world-famous composer abruptly canceled June’s world premiere of Symphony No. 15 “Lincoln” at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
From Los Angeles Times
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
