suddenly
Britishadverb
Explanation
If you're walking on a crowded street and you stop suddenly — abruptly and without warning — somebody walking behind you may bump into you. If you experience love at first sight, you've suddenly fallen in love. If you're driving at night and a deer jumps out in front of you, you might suddenly have to swerve to avoid it. Suddenly is the kind of adverb you might use a lot if you're describing the plot of an action movie, a mystery novel, or any story in which lots of unexpected things happen.
Vocabulary lists containing suddenly
A Need for Speed: Synonyms for "Fast"
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Beowulf vocabulary
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Cormac McCarthy's "The Road"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Suddenly motionless, she faces the camera with her hands over her eyes.
From Los Angeles Times • May 7, 2026
Suddenly, buying Iranian crude was too dangerous for China’s national oil companies and the product became a discounted commodity.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 2, 2026
Suddenly, their missions are the same — maybe they always were, and they were both too stubborn to understand it until now.
From Salon • May 1, 2026
Suddenly, the feuding married couple must work together to stay alive.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 24, 2026
Suddenly there was a tickle under Nim’s arm, and a sweet, spiny head with a grinning dragon face.
From "Nim’s Island" by Wendy Orr
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
