abruptly

[uh-bruhpt-lee]

adverb

1. without warning; suddenly or unexpectedly.

   Not noticing that the car in front of him had stopped abruptly, he rear-ended it.

2. 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?”

3. 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

Word History and Origins

Origin of abruptly¹

abrupt ( def. ) + -ly

Example Sentences

Adolescence - That changes abruptly from the age of nine when the connections in the brain go through a period of ruthless efficiency.

Read more on BBC

This was his first performance since he had to abruptly cancel his world tour last year.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

It comes a week after US investment group RedBird Capital Partners abruptly abandoned its takeover, reigniting uncertainty over the paper's future and extending a protracted sale marked by government intervenion.

Read more on Barron's

Two months earlier, the man to whom she was married for 23 years abruptly left her for another woman.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Elsewhere on the line a train with 475 people had to abruptly stop because of damage.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• all of a sudden 
• precipitously www.thesaurus.com
• suddenly 
• unexpectedly