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

"We turned the corner and all of a sudden the fire was there, there were two coaches of people evacuating too," said Cheytan.

From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026

It is odd that, all of a sudden, they’re worried about decorum.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 26, 2026

“It’s really a concern about a slippery slope. Do we start here with prescriptions, then all of a sudden, is it going to lead to diagnostic tests?” said John Whyte, chief executive of the AMA.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 18, 2026

Sennott: Just because you all of a sudden see all the different parts of the process of making something and all these different jobs that maybe I wasn’t as aware of before.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 18, 2026

I’d just won my third game in a row when all of a sudden I heard, “Hey, Albie.”

From Absolutely Almost by Lisa Graff

Related Words

• precipitously
• suddenly
• unexpectedly