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

“Ninety-five percent of the building, the structure is sound and intact…There is no way that this corner of a small extension all of a sudden topples this building.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 2026

La Guaira resident Antonio Bermudez was in his living room when the shaking began "all of a sudden."

From Barron's ● Jun. 25, 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

"We have the perfect storm of a condition that was previously thought to be very rare all of a sudden becoming extremely common," she says.

From BBC ● Jun. 13, 2026

Then all of a sudden you are done.

From "Ida B" by Katherine Hannigan

Related Words

• precipitously
• suddenly
• unexpectedly