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.

---

Example Sentences

"We shouldn't expect Hungary to become super pro-Ukraine membership all of a sudden," said a second senior EU diplomat.

From Barron's • Apr. 13, 2026

“You think that you have it. Then all of a sudden, it’s like somebody pulls a rug out and says, ‘No, we’re changing it,’ and now it’s going to be this way now.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 27, 2026

“Traders don’t want to get caught in a situation where, all of a sudden, the the president declares victory and the bombing ends, and then the market just shoots way higher,” Smith told MarketWatch.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 14, 2026

“Plummeting Russian crude on the water reflects these barrels all of a sudden selling and being delivered like hotcakes,” said David Wech, Vortexa’s chief economist.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 12, 2026

However, if you lower the frequency just a little bit beyond a critical threshold—making the light a wee bit too red—the sparking stops all of a sudden.

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

Related Words

• precipitously
• suddenly
• unexpectedly