Synonyms

abruptly

American

[uh-bruhpt-lee] / əˈbrʌpt li /

adverb

without warning; suddenly or unexpectedly.

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

Etymology

Origin of abruptly

abrupt ( def. ) + -ly

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.

We saw how that worked out for USC, which abruptly canceled a scheduled debate after a storm of criticism over its selection process and the exclusion of those four candidates.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 1, 2026

Much of that is bound for Asian countries, which have seen energy flows abruptly dry up, as prices spike and supplies shrink.

From Barron's • Apr. 1, 2026

Soon after the American Civil Liberties Union lawyer Celia Wang began her argument, Trump abruptly rose and left.

From Salon • Apr. 1, 2026

During Jan Palmer's stay in Bristol she said, after hearing a lot of noise from the hotel's landing, her door was opened abruptly and someone walked in.

From BBC • Mar. 30, 2026

She stopped abruptly and took a look around, then caught sight of the prince, mostly because Jack had taken a few steps backward.

From "Half Upon a Time" by James Riley

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023