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

See Examples For:

all of a sudden

“So all of a sudden they’re shopping across categories across items, not spearfishing for that single item that they need one by one,” she said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026

For me, I was just thinking about, again, how we’ve had so many folks who were known for films now all of a sudden becoming television stars.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026

"We have to be careful in both ways. We don't want to restrict them where all of a sudden we come in second to China," he told reporters in the Oval Office last week.

From Barron's ● Aug. 5, 2026

"I'd had a really bad day at work…and all of a sudden, all those worries just vanished. The only thing I was focused on was just being a dad," said Conor.

From BBC ● Jun. 14, 2026

You might be driving along at 30 miles an hour, but when you step on the gas, all of a sudden you would instantly—pop!—be driving 40 miles an hour.

From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife

Related Words

• precipitously
• suddenly
• unexpectedly