all of a sudden

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

“With those storms, we can have wind shifting and being really strong all of a sudden, frequent lightning, and we can see brief, heavy downpours,” said Lund.

From Los Angeles Times

The hikers in the hut were all trying to reassure one another that the thunder was far away, MacLeod said, “when all of a sudden, kaboom!”

From Los Angeles Times

But all of a sudden, federal immigration agents may appear.

From Los Angeles Times

And then all of a sudden I got the call from my agent and they said, “You have to read it now and make a decision by Monday.”

From Los Angeles Times

"Pretty much 75% of our earnings is through whelks, so you take that away and all of a sudden you're struggling," explained Mr Cooper.

From BBC

Related Words

• precipitously www.thesaurus.com
• suddenly 
• unexpectedly