suddenly
Britishadverb
Explanation
If you're walking on a crowded street and you stop suddenly — abruptly and without warning — somebody walking behind you may bump into you. If you experience love at first sight, you've suddenly fallen in love. If you're driving at night and a deer jumps out in front of you, you might suddenly have to swerve to avoid it. Suddenly is the kind of adverb you might use a lot if you're describing the plot of an action movie, a mystery novel, or any story in which lots of unexpected things happen.
Vocabulary lists containing suddenly
A Need for Speed: Synonyms for "Fast"
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Beowulf vocabulary
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Cormac McCarthy's "The Road"
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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.
These events gave the team a rare opportunity to watch how a black hole behaves after suddenly receiving a large supply of stellar material.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 21, 2026
When asked if the team was ready to face Birmingham, Holiday suddenly got excited.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 21, 2026
So with the clock winding down and the game on the line, Chambliss wasn’t thinking about a national championship, or a Heisman trophy, or his suddenly soaring NFL draft stock.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 20, 2026
And now suddenly they’re important again,” said Seaport Research analyst Jay Goldberg.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 19, 2026
Puzzled, he turned to go -and the bear appeared suddenly, as bears do.
From "Wolf Brother" by Michelle Paver
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.
