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.

We saw how that worked out for USC, which abruptly canceled a scheduled debate after a storm of criticism over its selection process and the exclusion of those four candidates.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 1, 2026

Much of that is bound for Asian countries, which have seen energy flows abruptly dry up, as prices spike and supplies shrink.

From Barron's • Apr. 1, 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

"Well, I gotta go," he said abruptly, when he realized where they were.

From "Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher" by Bruce Coville

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