Synonyms

abruptly

American

[uh-bruhpt-lee] / əˈbrʌpt li /

adverb

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

abrupt ( def. ) + -ly

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.

After World War II, as the VA mission shifted from housing to medical care, the on-campus population declined until the last few dozen residents were abruptly removed after the Sylmar earthquake.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 3, 2026

Soon after the American Civil Liberties Union lawyer Celia Wang began her argument, Trump abruptly rose and left.

From Salon • Apr. 1, 2026

The study, published in Physical Review Letters, demonstrates that viscous liquids can abruptly snap when stretched with enough force.

From Science Daily • Mar. 30, 2026

In October 2023, Unity’s CEO resigned abruptly, and things snowballed.

From Barron's • Mar. 27, 2026

When the narrator abruptly cut to footage of whale sharks in Saudi Arabia, far away from Mom’s ocean, Dad said, “Play it again.”

From "The Line Tender" by Kate Allen

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023