sudden
happening, coming, made, or done quickly, without warning, or unexpectedly: a sudden attack.
occurring without transition from the previous form, state, etc.; abrupt: a sudden turn.
Literary. without warning; suddenly.
Obsolete. an unexpected occasion or occurrence.
Idioms about sudden
all of a sudden, without warning; unexpectedly; suddenly.: Also on a sudden .
Origin of sudden
1synonym study For sudden
Other words for sudden
1, 2 | unforeseen, unanticipated |
Opposites for sudden
1, 2 | gradual, foreseen |
Other words from sudden
- sud·den·ly, adverb
- sud·den·ness, noun
Words Nearby sudden
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use sudden in a sentence
All of a sudden, political videos have started to appear across all categories — humor, beauty, sport.
Daily Crunch: TikTok becomes a political battleground in Russia | Anthony Ha | February 11, 2021 | TechCrunchThanks to Google's sudden disinterest in iOS app updates, the messages were showing even when users had the latest, two-month-old updates of these Google apps.
Google flags its iOS apps as “out of date” after two months of neglect | Ron Amadeo | February 11, 2021 | Ars TechnicaAs rescue workers search for more than 100 people who are still missing, officials and scientists are trying to unravel the causes of the sudden flood.
Three things to know about the disastrous flood in India | Carolyn Gramling | February 9, 2021 | Science NewsThe metaphor of “wildfire” became common in descriptions of the disease, especially “flare-ups” as countries that initially brought down their infection rates faced sudden surges of infection.
The virus caused more than a pandemic. It set us all ablaze. | Philip Kennicott | February 5, 2021 | Washington PostThe curriculum they covered was truncated in response to the sudden closure of schools in March, when the public health emergency slammed the nation.
AP tests will be offered at home or in school as virus crisis persists, but this time exams will be of normal length | Nick Anderson | February 4, 2021 | Washington Post
Because they stopped and I thought, “OK, that makes sense,” and then all of a sudden I saw another issue!
Coffee Talk with Fred Armisen: On ‘Portlandia,’ Meeting Obama, and Taylor Swift’s Greatness | Marlow Stern | January 7, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTInvestigators will focus on whether the sudden emergency was so extreme that no degree of pilot skill would have helped.
Flight 8501 Poses Question: Are Modern Jets Too Automated to Fly? | Clive Irving | January 4, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTAirline pilots are now slowly, too slowly, being given access to flight simulators able to reproduce sudden and unexpected upsets.
People will always scratch and save if a sudden burst of unrestrained pleasure can be purchased.
Liu had been married just two months before and his wife now stood in this Brooklyn hospital, a sudden widow because of a madman.
The noise of his slumbers culminated in a sudden, choking grunt, and abruptly ceased.
St. Martin's Summer | Rafael SabatiniThe sudden pall of darkness in this strange house of mystery was just a tiny bit awesome.
The Boarded-Up House | Augusta Huiell SeamanWhile you were admiring the long roll of the wave, a sudden spray would be dashed over you, and make you catch your breath!
Music-Study in Germany | Amy FayThey were a well-matched pair; iron-nerved, both of them, the sort of men to face sudden death open-eyed and unafraid.
Raw Gold | Bertrand W. SinclairAristide, aglow with a sudden impudent inspiration, leant across the marble table.
The Joyous Adventures of Aristide Pujol | William J. Locke
British Dictionary definitions for sudden
/ (ˈsʌdən) /
occurring or performed quickly and without warning
marked by haste; abrupt
rare rash; precipitate
archaic an abrupt occurrence or the occasion of such an occurrence (in the phrase on a sudden)
all of a sudden without warning; unexpectedly
mainly poetic without warning; suddenly
Origin of sudden
1Derived forms of sudden
- suddenness, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with sudden
see all of a sudden.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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