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.
Usman’s twin boys were among more than 55,000 children receiving therapeutic food in Borno before the program was abruptly ended earlier this year, following a US funding cut, according to Mercy Corps, which operated three outpatient nutrition clinics in northeast Nigeria. Lauren Kent, CNN Money, 21 Sep. 2025 Characters archly comment on proceedings directly to camera at some points and retreat into the staid distance of historical drama at others, as passages of seemingly earnest melodrama crash abruptly into broad-brush contemporary satire. Guy Lodge, Variety, 20 Sep. 2025 Your transition came with a lot of attention, partly because of how abruptly Wendy’s show got canceled. Shamira Ibrahim, Vulture, 19 Sep. 2025 Kimmel’s future at ABC was thrown into doubt on Wednesday, when the network abruptly pulled the show following conservative outcry over a joke the host made during a recent monologue about the suspect accused of killing Charlie Kirk. Shirley Halperin, Rolling Stone, 19 Sep. 2025 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

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Cite this Entry

“Abruptly.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/abruptly. Accessed 22 Sep. 2025.

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