There is a fine line between speech that is terse and to the point and speech that is too abrupt.
Source: tatoeba (1945)
Abrupt
//əˈbɹʌpt//
Synonyms for "abrupt" (175 found)
Ranked by relevance and common usage.
Closest matches (35)
Strong matches (53)
Related words (87)
perpendicularplainplumbplungingpoint-blankpointlessprecipitantprecipitatepull backpull outquickquick-temperedrapidrashreadyroughroundedruderushingsegregate
Show 55 more words
separatesequesterset apartset asideseveresharpsheershockingshortshort-temperedshut offsidelingsmoothedsnapsnappishsnappysnippetysnippysourspeedysplitstand aloofstand apartstand asidestartlingsteepstep asidesticklesubtractsummarysurlysurprisingswifttactlessthrow offthrow outtruculentunannouncedunanticipatedunceremoniousunciviluncoupleunedgedunexpectedunforeseenungraciousunlooked forunlooked-forunplannedunpointedunpredictedunsharpunsharpenedverticalwithdraw
Adjective(2 words)
Adjective(8 words)
Adverb(2 words)
Related word relations
OpenGloss and ConceptNet supply richer edges like generalizations, collocations, and derivations.
Synonyms
5 entriesderived
10 entrieshas context
1 entriesrelated to
15 entriessimilar
7 entriesTranslations
140 translations across 30 languages.
Arabic
2 entries- مُبَاغِت adj (without notice)
- مُفَاجِئ adj (without notice)
Belarusian
1 entries- рапто́ўны adj (without notice)
Bulgarian
4 entries- безцеремонен adj (curt in manner)
- внезапен adj (without notice)
- рязък adj (without notice)
- рязък adj (curt in manner)
Catalan
3 entries- abrupte adj (extremely steep)
- abrupte adj (without notice)
- abrupte adj (having sudden transitions from one state to next)
Danish
3 entries- brat adj (extremely steep)
- pludselig adj (without notice)
- uformodet adj (without notice)
Dutch
4 entries- abrupt adj (without notice)
- afgeknot adj (botany: truncated)
- bruusk adj (without notice)
- bruusk adj (curt in manner)
Esperanto
1 entries- subita adj (having sudden transitions from one state to next)
Finnish
4 entries- karkea adj (curt in manner)
- katkaistu adj (botany: truncated)
- odottamaton adj (without notice)
- töksähtävä adj (curt in manner)
French
4 entries- abrupt adj (extremely steep)
- brusque adj (without notice)
- brusque adj (curt in manner)
- precipité adj (without notice)
German
4 entries- abgestumpft adj (botany: truncated)
- abrupt adj (extremely steep)
- abrupt adj (without notice)
- abrupt adj (having sudden transitions from one state to next)
Greek
4 entries- αιφνίδιος adj (without notice)
- απροσδόκητος adj (without notice)
- απόκρημνος adj (extremely steep)
- απότομος adj (extremely steep)
Hebrew
1 entries- תלול adj (extremely steep)
Ido
4 entries- abrupta adj (extremely steep)
- abrupta adj (having sudden transitions from one state to next)
- bruska adj (curt in manner)
- bruska adj (having sudden transitions from one state to next)
Irish
2 entries- gearrbhéalach adj (curt in manner)
- tobann adj (without notice)
Italian
4 entries- brusco adj (extremely steep)
- brusco adj (without notice)
- discontinua adj (having sudden transitions from one state to next)
- discontinuo adj (having sudden transitions from one state to next)
Latin
3 entries- abruptus adj (extremely steep)
- abruptus adj (without notice)
- abruptus adj (having sudden transitions from one state to next)
Macedonian
4 entries- на́гол adj (without notice)
- нена́деен adj (without notice)
- о́стар adj (curt in manner)
- ре́зок adj (curt in manner)
Maltese
3 entries- f’daqqa adj (without notice)
- ta’ malajr adj (without notice)
- ta’ mod goff adj (curt in manner)
Māori
4 entries- mote adj (extremely steep)
- ohotata adj (without notice)
- whakatumatuma adj (curt in manner)
- whawhati tata adj (without notice)
Norwegian Bokmål
4 entries- bratt adj (extremely steep)
- brå adj (extremely steep)
- brå adj (without notice)
- brå adj (curt in manner)
Ottoman Turkish
1 entries- صارپ adj (extremely steep)
Polish
1 entries- nagłe adj (without notice)
Portuguese
4 entries- abrupto adj (extremely steep)
- abrupto adj (without notice)
- abrupto adj (having sudden transitions from one state to next)
- brusco adj (extremely steep)
Romanian
1 entries- abrupt adj (extremely steep)
Russian
4 entries- бесцеремо́нный adj (curt in manner)
- внеза́пный adj (without notice)
- круто́й adj (extremely steep)
- неожи́данный adj (without notice)
Serbo-Croatian
4 entries- nágao adj (without notice)
- nȅnādan adj (without notice)
- ȉznenādan adj (without notice)
- ȍsōran adj (curt in manner)
Spanish
4 entries- abrupto adj (extremely steep)
- abrupto adj (without notice)
- abrupto adj (curt in manner)
- abrupto adj (having sudden transitions from one state to next)
Telugu
1 entries- అకస్మాత్తుగా adj (without notice)
Ukrainian
1 entries- рапто́вий adj (without notice)
Welsh
1 entries- swta adj (curt in manner)
Sample sentences
21 total sentences available.
Bill's abrupt manner causes him to be misunderstood.
Source: tatoeba (34565)
The car made an abrupt turn.
Source: tatoeba (46814)
The car came to an abrupt stop.
Source: tatoeba (46834)
Showing 4 of 21 available sentences.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.