sudden

[suhd-n]

See more synonyms for sudden on Thesaurus.com

adjective

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.

adverb

Literary. suddenly.

noun

Obsolete. an unexpected occasion or occurrence.

Idioms

all of a sudden, without warning; unexpectedly; suddenly.Also on a sudden.

Origin of sudden

1250–1300; Middle English sodain (adj. and adv.) < Middle French < Latin subitāneus going or coming stealthily, equivalent to subit(us) sudden, taking by surprise (see subito) + -āneus composite adj. suffix, equivalent to -ān(us) -an + -eus -eous

Related formssud·den·ly, adverbsud·den·ness, noun

Synonyms for sudden

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1, 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 for sudden

1, 2. gradual, foreseen.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for sudden

unusual, rapid, unforeseen, precipitous, hasty, abrupt, immediate, quick, swift, acute, expeditious, fast, flash, fleet, headlong, hurried, impetuous, impromptu, impulsive, precipitate

Examples from the Web for sudden

Contemporary Examples of sudden

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 Greatness
Marlow Stern
January 7, 2015
Investigators will focus on whether the sudden emergency was so extreme that no degree of pilot skill would have helped.
Flight 8501 Poses Question: Are Modern Jets Too Automated to Fly?
Clive Irving
January 4, 2015
People will always scratch and save if a sudden burst of unrestrained pleasure can be purchased.
How Dickens and Scrooge Saved Christmas
Clive Irving
December 22, 2014
Liu had been married just two months before and his wife now stood in this Brooklyn hospital, a sudden widow because of a madman.
Two Cops ‘Assassinated’ in Brooklyn
Michael Daly
December 21, 2014
In its presence--jolting, sudden, horrific—the monster is the monster of grief.
Grief: The Real Monster in The Babadook
Tim Teeman
December 19, 2014

Historical Examples of sudden

He seemed to make a strong effort to check some sudden impulse.
Philothea
Lydia Maria Child
Mrs. Van Geist fixed her niece with a sudden look of suspicion.
The Spenders
Harry Leon Wilson
Once it was that he had felt a sudden great longing for the life of a gay city.
The Spenders
Harry Leon Wilson
I might have paid them at the time, but it was all so unexpected and so sudden,—it rattled me, quite.
The Spenders
Harry Leon Wilson
He was not naturally bad, but he had fallen a victim to sudden temptation.
Brave and Bold
Horatio Alger

British Dictionary definitions for sudden

sudden

adjective

occurring or performed quickly and without warning
marked by haste; abrupt
rare rash; precipitate

noun

archaic an abrupt occurrence or the occasion of such an occurrence (in the phrase on a sudden)
all of a sudden without warning; unexpectedly

adverb

mainly poetic without warning; suddenly

Derived Formssuddenness, noun

Word Origin for sudden

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).

Idioms and Phrases with sudden

sudden

see all of a sudden.