Suddenly

//ˈsʌdn̩li// adv

adv ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Adverb
  1. 1
    Happening quickly and with little or no warning; in a sudden manner.

    "Suddenly, the heavens opened and we all got drenched."

Adverb
  1. 1
    quickly and without warning wordnet
  2. 2
    happening unexpectedly wordnet
  3. 3
    on impulse; without premeditation wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
abruptlywithout warninga corps perduabackabruptlyall at once

Example

More examples

"To our surprise, our son has suddenly shot up recently."

Etymology

From Middle English sodenly, sodeynly, sodeinliche, sodaynlyche; equivalent to sudden + -ly.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.