sudden
- 01 B1 Intermediate
adj.happening or done quickly and without warning.
adj.occurring, arriving, or performed unexpectedly and without prior notice.
Simple“A sudden rain shower caught the hikers without their jackets.”
In context“The sudden resignation of the chief executive left the board of directors scrambling to find a suitable interim replacement before the markets opened.”
PitfallThe car made a suddenly stop. The car made a sudden stop.Use the adjective 'sudden' to describe a noun like 'stop'. Use the adverb 'suddenly' to describe an action.
- 02 B1 Intermediate
adv.used in the phrase 'all of a sudden' to mean 'suddenly'.
adv.functioning as an adverbial component, almost exclusively within the idiomatic prepositional phrase 'all of a sudden'.
Simple“All of a sudden, the lights went out and the room was dark.”
In context“The engine began to make a rhythmic clicking sound and then, all of a sudden, the entire vehicle shuddered and came to a halt.”
- 03 C2 Proficiency
adv.a poetic way to say 'suddenly'.
adv.used as a flat adverb in poetic or highly literary contexts to denote an abrupt occurrence.
Simple“Sudden, the wind changed and the sails began to flap.”
In context“Sudden there came a tapping, as of some one gently rapping at my chamber door.”
Synonyms - 04 C2 Proficiency
n.a surprise or something that happens without warning.
n.an unexpected or abrupt occurrence; now largely restricted to the fixed phrase 'on a sudden'.
Simple“The news came upon them on a sudden.”
In context“The arrival of the messenger on a sudden threw the entire household into a state of frantic preparation.”
Usage incorporation sudden · sudden challenge
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.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.