abrupt

First attested in 1583. Borrowed from Latin abruptus (“broken off”), perfect passive participle of abrumpō (“break off”), formed from ab (“from, away from”) + rumpō (“to break”).^[1][2]

• (US) IPA^(key): /əˈbɹʌpt/, /æbˈɹʌpt/

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• Rhymes: -ʌpt

abrupt (comparative more abrupt or abrupter, superlative most abrupt or abruptest)

1. (obsolete, rare) Broken away (from restraint). [Attested only in the late 16th century.]^[1]
2. Without notice to prepare the mind for the event; sudden; hasty; unceremonious. [First attested in the late 16th century.]^[1]

   The party came to an abrupt end when the parents of our host arrived.

   • 1592, William Shakespeare, Henry VI Part I, II-iii:

     The cause of your abrupt departure.

   • 1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “Success”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 76:

     There was something in this abrupt allusion to the treasured and hidden past, that at once shocked and silenced Norbourne. He was annoyed to find that his heart's sweetest secret was in the possession of one so little likely to keep it;...

   • 2020 January 28, Kiran Millwood Hargrave, The Mercies‎^[1], →ISBN, page 130:

     'Is it a slickstone?' she asks, and Maren snorts, an abrupt sound, bringing her hand up to her mouth.

3. Curt in manner. [First attested in the late 16th century.]^[1]

   Synonyms: brusque, rude, uncivil, impolite, terse, brisk

   • 1841 February–November, Charles Dickens, “Barnaby Rudge. Chapter 12.”, in Master Humphrey’s Clock, volume II, London: Chapman & Hall, […], →OCLC, page 301:

     With no great disparity between them in point of years, they were, in every other respect, as unlike and far removed from each other as two men could well be. The one was soft-spoken, delicately made, precise, and elegant; the other, a burly square-built man, negligently dressed, rough and abrupt in manner, stern, and, in his present mood, forbidding both in look and speech.

4. Having sudden transitions from one subject or state to another; unconnected; disjointed. [First attested in the late 16th century.]^[1]
   • 1641, Ben Jonson, Discoveries Made upon Men and Matter‎^[2]:

     The abrupt style, which hath many breaches.

5. (obsolete) Broken off. [Attested from the early 17th century until the mid 18th century.]^[1]
6. Extremely steep or craggy as if broken up; precipitous. [First attested in the early 17th century.]^[1]
   • a. 1749 (date written), James Thomson, “Summer”, in The Seasons, London: […] A[ndrew] Millar, and sold by Thomas Cadell, […], published 1768, →OCLC:

     The mazy-running brook
     Forms a deep pool; this bank abrupt and high.

   • 1961 October, ""Voyageur"", “The Cockermouth, Keswick & Penrith Railway”, in Trains Illustrated, page 601:

     To the north the towering scree-strewn slopes of Saddleback begin to draw nearer as we start the abrupt descent towards Keswick.

7. (botany) Suddenly terminating, as if cut off; truncate. [First attested in the early 19th century.]^[1]
   • 1839, William Baxter, British Phænogamous Botany‎^[3], →OCLC:

     Root oblong, blackish, nearly the thickness of the little finger, often growing obliquely; abrupt at the lower end, so as to appear as if bitten off, furnished with long whitish fibres.

• (precipitous): broken, rough, rugged
• (without time to prepare): sudden; see also Thesaurus:sudden
• (uncivil): blunt, brusque
• (without transition): disconnected, unexpected

abrupt (third-person singular simple present abrupts, present participle abrupting, simple past and past participle abrupted)

1. (transitive, archaic) To tear off or asunder. [First attested in the mid 17th century.]^[1]
   • 1642, [Thomas Browne], “(please specify the page)”, in Religio Medici, London: […] Andrew Crooke, →OCLC:

     Till death abrupts them.

2. To interrupt suddenly. [First attested in the mid 17th century.]^[1]

abrupt (plural abrupts)

1. (poetic) Something which is abrupt; an abyss. [First attested in the mid 17th century.]^[1]
   • 1667, John Milton, “Book II”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:

     Over the vast abrupt.

Borrowed from French abrupt, itself borrowed from Latin abruptus, from abrumpēre (“to break off”).

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• Hyphenation: ab‧rupt

abrupt (comparative abrupter, superlative abruptst)

1. abrupt (sudden)

Borrowed from Latin abruptus.

• IPA^(key): /a.bʁypt/

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abrupt (feminine abrupte, masculine plural abrupts, feminine plural abruptes)

1. Extremely steep, near vertical
2. curt and abrupt
3. Done or said forwardly and without caution to avoid shocking

• abruptement

• “abrupt”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

18th century, from Latin abruptus.

• IPA^(key): /apˈʁʊpt/, /aˈbʁʊpt/

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abrupt (strong nominative masculine singular abrupter, comparative abrupter, superlative am abruptesten)

1. abrupt
   1. sudden, unforeseen

      Synonyms: jäh, plötzlich, schlagartig

   2. unconnected, having sudden transitions, (of movements) jerking

• “abrupt” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• “abrupt” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon

Learned borrowing from Latin abruptus (“broken off, torn; abrupt”).

• IPA^(key): /aˈbrʉpt/

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• Rhymes: -ʉpt
• Hyphenation: ab‧rupt

abrupt (neuter singular abrupt, definite singular and plural abrupte, comparative mer abrupt, superlative mest abrupt)

1. abrupt (having sudden transitions from one subject or state to another; unconnected; disjointed)

   Synonyms: plutselig, brå

   abrupte setninger ― abrupt sentences

   abrupt tale ― abrupt speech

   • 1976, Karsten Alnæs, Felttoget, page 14:

     han lignet en vadefugl, ikke bare i skikkelsen, men også gjennom den abrupte rykkende gangen

     he resembled a wader, not only in the figure, but also through the abrupt jerking passage

   • 1993, Tor Ulven, Avløsning, page 47:

     i et abrupt glimt husker du … at du en gang sto slik

     in an abrupt glimpse you remember… that you once stood like that

   • 2000, Pernille Rygg, Det gyldne snitt:

     ikke gråt, bare et siste, abrupt avklippet ynk

     not crying, just one last, abruptly clipped pity

   • 2013, Erik Bjerck Hagen, Livets overskudd, page 107:

     Riis’ abrupte og prekære tilbaketog

     Riis' abrupt and precarious retreat

• abrupthet (“abruptness”)

• “abrupt” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
• “abrupt” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).
• “abrupt” in Store norske leksikon

• абрупт (abrupt) — post-1930s Cyrillic spelling

Borrowed from French abrupt, Latin abruptus.

• IPA^(key): /aˈbrupt/
• Rhymes: -upt
• Hyphenation: a‧brupt

abrupt m or n (feminine singular abruptă, masculine plural abrupți, feminine/neuter plural abrupte)

1. abrupt
2. extremely steep, near vertical

• “abrupt”, in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language) (in Romanian), 2004–2026

• IPA^(key): /aˈbrɵpːt/

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abrupt

1. abrupt, sudden

abrupt

1. suddenly

• plötsligt