sudden
[suhd-n]
- happening, coming, made, or done quickly, without warning, or unexpectedly: a sudden attack.
- occurring without transition from the previous form, state, etc.; abrupt: a sudden turn.
- impetuous; rash.
- Archaic. quickly made or provided.
- Obsolete. unpremeditated.
Show More
- Literary. suddenly.
Show More
- Obsolete. an unexpected occasion or occurrence.
Show More
- all of a sudden, without warning; unexpectedly; suddenly.Also on a sudden.
Show More
Origin of sudden
Synonyms
See more synonyms for sudden on Thesaurus.com1, 2. unforeseen, unanticipated. Sudden, unexpected, abrupt describe acts, events, or conditions for which there has been no preparation or gradual approach. Sudden refers to the quickness of an occurrence, although the event may have been expected: a sudden change in the weather. Unexpected emphasizes the lack of preparedness for what occurs or appears: an unexpected crisis. Abrupt characterizes something involving a swift adjustment; the effect is often unpleasant, unfavorable, or the cause of dismay: He had an abrupt change in manner. The road came to an abrupt end.
Antonyms
1, 2. gradual, foreseen.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for sudden
Contemporary Examples
Because they stopped and I thought, “OK, that makes sense,” and then all of a sudden I saw another issue!
Coffee Talk with Fred Armisen: On ‘Portlandia,’ Meeting Obama, and Taylor Swift’s GreatnessMarlow Stern
January 7, 2015
Investigators will focus on whether the sudden emergency was so extreme that no degree of pilot skill would have helped.
People will always scratch and save if a sudden burst of unrestrained pleasure can be purchased.
Liu had been married just two months before and his wife now stood in this Brooklyn hospital, a sudden widow because of a madman.
In its presence--jolting, sudden, horrific—the monster is the monster of grief.
Historical Examples
Mrs. Van Geist fixed her niece with a sudden look of suspicion.
The SpendersHarry Leon Wilson
Once it was that he had felt a sudden great longing for the life of a gay city.
The SpendersHarry Leon Wilson
He seemed to make a strong effort to check some sudden impulse.
PhilotheaLydia Maria Child
I might have paid them at the time, but it was all so unexpected and so sudden,—it rattled me, quite.
The SpendersHarry Leon Wilson
He was not naturally bad, but he had fallen a victim to sudden temptation.
Brave and BoldHoratio Alger
sudden
- occurring or performed quickly and without warning
- marked by haste; abrupt
- rare rash; precipitate
Show More
- archaic an abrupt occurrence or the occasion of such an occurrence (in the phrase on a sudden)
- all of a sudden without warning; unexpectedly
Show More
- mainly poetic without warning; suddenly
Show More
Word Origin
C13: via French from Late Latin subitāneus, from Latin subitus unexpected, from subīre to happen unexpectedly, from sub- secretly + īre to go
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for sudden
adj.
late 13c., perhaps via Anglo-French sodein, from Old French subdain "immediate, sudden," from Vulgar Latin *subitanus, variant of Latin subitaneus "sudden," from subitus "come or go up stealthily," from sub "up to" + ire "come, go." Phrase all of a sudden first attested 1680s, earlier of a sudayn (1590s), upon the soden (1550s). Sudden death, tie-breakers in sports, first recorded 1927; earlier in reference to coin tosses (1834).
Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Idioms and Phrases with sudden
sudden
see all of a sudden.
Show More
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.