English Explanatory Dictionary

sudden

English dictionary entry

Meanings

adj
  1. Occurring quickly with little or no warning or expectation; instantly.
  2. Hastily prepared or employed; quick; rapid.
  3. Hasty; violent; rash; precipitate.
adv
  1. Suddenly.
noun
  1. An unexpected occurrence; a surprise.

Pronunciation

/ˈsʌd.ən/ [ˈsʌd.n̩] en-us-sudden.ogg

Word forms

sudden suddener suddenest more sudden most sudden suddens

Etymology

From Middle English sodeyn, sodain, from Anglo-Norman sodein, from Old French sodain, subdain (“immediate, sudden”), from Vulgar Latin *subitānus (“sudden”), from Latin subitāneus (“sudden”), from subitus (“sudden", literally, "that which has come stealthily”), originally the past participle of subīre (“to come or go stealthily”), from sub (“under”) + īre (“go”). Doublet of subitaneous. Displaced native Old English fǣrlīċ.

Synonyms

precipitous subitaneous impetuous impulsive precipitant precipitate spontaneous sudden suddent abrupt hotheaded

Antonyms

gradual unsudden eventual

Related words

summary unceremonious immediately speedy

Derived words

all of a sudden all on a sudden all the sudden a quick drop and a sudden stop a short drop and a sudden stop sudden arrhythmic death syndrome sudden death sudden death syndrome sudden fiction sudden infant death syndrome suddenism suddenly suddenness sudden oak death sudden sniffing death syndrome sudden stratospheric warming suddenty sudden unexpected death syndrome sudden unexplained death syndrome sudden unexplained nocturnal death syndrome sudden victory suddenwoven supersudden Yunnan sudden death syndrome all of the sudden of a sudden on a sudden upon a sudden
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