abruptly

adverb

abrupt·​ly ə-ˈbrəp(t)-lē How to pronounce abruptly (audio)
: 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

Examples of abruptly in a Sentence

the car in front stopped abruptly, and we almost hit it
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
The video, which ended abruptly after about 90 seconds, had been shared almost 12,000 times as of Wednesday afternoon. Gabriella Rudy, NBC News, 13 Nov. 2024 In October of that year, however, the state of the case abruptly changed — with a surprising, confounding arrest. Aja Romano, Vox, 11 Nov. 2024 Of even greater existential peril, a little more than halfway through principal photography in Savannah in the summer of 2023, a labor strike by the Screen Actors Guild–American Federation of Television and Radio Artists abruptly halted production. Chris Lee, Vulture, 5 Nov. 2024 Unlike Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, which burned out in primetime because of overuse (but found a loyal audience for a number of years in daytime syndication), Greed was abruptly canceled by Fox after just one season for reasons unknown to this writer. Marc Berman, Forbes, 4 Nov. 2024 See all Example Sentences for abruptly 

Word History

First Known Use

1565, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of abruptly was in 1565

Dictionary Entries Near abruptly

Cite this Entry

“Abruptly.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/abruptly. Accessed 22 Nov. 2024.

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