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

About two weeks earlier, the use of a military laser system by CBP designed to disrupt drones near El Paso prompted the FAA to abruptly shut down a large swath of airspace up to 18,000 feet over the city for 10 days. —Aaron Cooper, CNN Money, 6 Mar. 2026

When production stops abruptly due to downstream bottlenecks, the delicate equilibrium of rock physics and fluid flow is shattered. —Siddharth Misra, Fortune, 6 Mar. 2026

Instead, the star freshman and high-end NBA prospect is abruptly done for the season after suffering a new injury. —ABC News, 6 Mar. 2026

Then, in what seems like the universe conspiring to teach young Chalamet an important lesson about humility, his luck abruptly ran out. —Nate Jones, Vulture, 6 Mar. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1565, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for abruptly

• corruptly