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

“The death of their father was extraordinarily traumatic, as you can imagine. That was compounded by this putative heir all of a sudden showing up and demanding money,” said Joseph Lipchitz, a litigator in Boston.

From The Wall Street Journal

If you’ve ever had that experience, you’re in a room and all of a sudden the lightbulb gets really intense and then it burns out.

From Los Angeles Times

I’m out there singing “Tracks of My Tears,” and all of a sudden I’m singing “Going to a Go-Go”? I’m done at that point.

From Los Angeles Times

“When you have these large corporations that have a historic brand identity, it just looks inauthentic when they’re all of a sudden getting involved in these social campaigns.”

From New York Times

“There’s all this altruism for the brand all of a sudden,” Ms. Demer said.

From New York Times

Related Words

• precipitously
• suddenly
• unexpectedly