Abrupt Meaning
/əˈbɹʌpt/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
adjBroken away (from restraint).
adjWithout notice to prepare the mind for the event; sudden; hasty; unceremonious.
Sentence Examples
Bill's abrupt manner causes him to be misunderstood.
The car made an abrupt turn.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
CEFR Practice Quiz
His ____ departure from the meeting surprised everyone present.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The car came to an ____ stop when the dog ran into the street.
Word Origin & History
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”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"The cause of your abrupt departure."
— 1592, William Shakespeare, Henry VI Part I, II-iii:
"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;..."
— 1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “Success”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 76:
"'Is it a slickstone?' she asks, and Maren snorts, an abrupt sound, bringing her hand up to her mouth."
— 2020 January 28, Kiran Millwood Hargrave, The Mercies, →ISBN, page 130:
"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."
— 1841 February–November, Charles Dickens, “Barnaby Rudge. Chapter 12.”, in Master Humphrey’s Clock, volume II, London: Chapman & Hall, […], →OCLC, page 301:
"The abrupt style, which hath many breaches."
— 1641, Ben Jonson, Discoveries Made upon Men and Matter:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
His ____ departure from the meeting surprised everyone present.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The car came to an ____ stop when the dog ran into the street.