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.
And why does it suddenly seem like celebrities everywhere are getting pregnant at older and older ages?
From Slate ● Oct. 16, 2026
In other cases, the black hole appears relatively quiet for months or even years before suddenly producing a detectable radio outflow.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 16, 2026
“You know,” he started, his voice suddenly louder than the ambient classic background rock playing.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026
She wrote: “Michigan voters made their choice, and respecting that choice doesn’t mean I suddenly agree with him on everything.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026
Then it would get a little hazy, but suddenly everyone was crowding around us — Joey and Rich and Darlene and Mrs. Tracy and Samantha Embriano.
From "Firegirl" by Tony Abbott
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
