abruptly

adverb

abrupt·​ly ə-ˈbrəp(t)-lē 

: in an abrupt manner : in a sudden and unexpected way

He left abruptly.

The car swerved abruptly onto the exit ramp.

Her career as a psychologist ended abruptly several years ago when a hacker broke into some of her private client files and made them public …

—Michael Logan

The small, rocky Anacapa Island [California] has steep cliffs which rise abruptly from the ocean on almost every side …

—David J. Rutherford

Synonyms of abruptly

• suddenly

Examples of abruptly in a Sentence

the car in front stopped abruptly, and we almost hit it

Recent Examples on the Web

They were hired by a nimble tech vendor with a flat hierarchy, and now they are being abruptly absorbed into a massive, heavily matrixed corporate bureaucracy. — Thanh Pham, Forbes.com, 25 Sep. 2026

In June, the Senate approved a war powers resolution after four GOP senators joined Democrats, but Republicans abruptly reversed course the next day after Trump berated them during a private lunch over the outcome. — Lisa Mascaro, Los Angeles Times, 24 Sep. 2026

My naiveté about my dream job was about to end rather abruptly. — Bob Chapek, HollywoodReporter, 24 Sep. 2026

From Art Marcum and Matt Holloway, Disavowed follows legendary CIA Case Officer Brad Griffin (James Marsden), who is abruptly fired in the middle of a global hunt for an elusive assassin responsible for killing his colleague. — Rosy Cordero, Deadline, 23 Sep. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1565, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for abruptly

• corruptly