all of a sudden

Idioms  

1. Entirely without warning, abruptly, as in All of a sudden the lights went out. In Shakespeare's day the common phrase was of a sudden, the word all being added in the late 1600s. Also see all at once, def. 2.

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Example Sentences

“The death of their father was extraordinarily traumatic, as you can imagine. That was compounded by this putative heir all of a sudden showing up and demanding money,” said Joseph Lipchitz, a litigator in Boston.

From The Wall Street Journal

If you’ve ever had that experience, you’re in a room and all of a sudden the lightbulb gets really intense and then it burns out.

From Los Angeles Times

“And then I realized all of a sudden, ‘Wow, I’m paying more attention than I would if I was just sitting there.’”

From New York Times

With these “stealthy” solar events, “there’s a kind of meager-looking eruption and then, all of a sudden, wham!”

From Scientific American

“I don’t think that everyone’s all of a sudden become Democrats.”

From New York Times

Related Words

• precipitously
• suddenly
• unexpectedly