Dictionary Definition
abrupt adj
1 marked by sudden changes in subject and sharp
transitions; "abrupt prose" [syn: disconnected]
2 exceedingly sudden and unexpected; "came to an
abrupt stop"; "an abrupt change in the weather"
3 extremely steep; "an abrupt canyon"; "the
precipitous rapids of the upper river"; "the precipitous hills of
Chinese paintings"; "a sharp drop" [syn: precipitous, sharp]
4 surprisingly and unceremoniously brusque in
manner; "an abrupt reply"
User Contributed Dictionary
English
Etymology
abruptus, past participle of abrumpere "to break off", formed from ab- + rumpere "to break".Adjective
- Broken off; very steep
or craggy, as rocks,
precipices, banks;
precipitous; as,
abrupt places.
- Tumbling through ricks abrupt. - Thomson
- Without notice to prepare the mind for the event; sudden; hasty; unceremonious.
- The cause of your abrupt departure. - Shakespeare, Henry VI Part I, II-iii
- Curt in manner; rude; uncivil; impolite.
- Having sudden transitions from one subject
or state to another; unconnected.
- The party came to an abrupt end when the parents of our host arrived.
- The abrupt style, which hath many breaches. - B. Jonson
- Suddenly terminating, as if cut off; truncate; truncata.
Translations
broken off or very steep
sudden or hasty
- Danish: pludselig, uformodet
- Dutch: abrupt, plots, bruusk
- Finnish: äkillinen, odottamaton
- French: brusque, precipité
- German: abrupt, plötzlich
- Italian: brusco, brusca
- Maltese: f'daqqa, ta' malajr
- Norwegian: brå, plutselig
- Novial: abrupt, abrupti
- Portuguese: brusco, abrupto
- Spanish: repentino, súbito
- Telugu: అకస్మాత్తుగా
curt in manner
- Dutch: kortaf
- Finnish: töksähtävä, karkea
- French: brusque
- German: einsiblig, wortkarg, kurz angebunden
- Maltese: ta' mod goff
- Norwegian: brå, skarp
- Portuguese: brusco, rude
- Spanish: abrupto, brusco, cortante
having sudden transitions from one state to next
- Dutch: hortend
- Finnish: äkillinen
- Italian: discontinuo, discontinua, sconnesso, sconnessa
- Norwegian: plutselig
- Portuguese: brusco, abrupto
- Spanish: brusco, abrupto
Translations
to interrupt suddenly
- Finnish: keskeyttää
Noun
- Something which is abrupt.
- Over the vast abrupt. - Milton
Synonyms, Antonyms and Related Words
aggressive, arduous, bearish, beastly, bluff, blunt, blunt-edged, blunt-ended,
blunt-pointed, blunted,
bluntish, bold, brash, breakneck, breathless, brief, brisk, brusque, casual, cavalier, churlish, crisp, crusty, curt, discourteous, dull, dull-edged, dull-pointed,
dulled, dullish, edgeless, electrifying, faired, gruff, harsh, hasty, headlong, hurried, impetuous, impolite, impulsive, informal, nerve-shattering,
obtuse, panting, perpendicular, plumb, plunging, pointless, precipitant, precipitate, precipitous, quick, rapid, rash, ready, rough, rounded, rude, rushing, severe, sharp, sheer, shocking, short, sideling, smoothed, snappish, snappy, snippety, snippy, speedy, startling, steep, stickle, sudden, surly, surprising, swift, truculent, unannounced, unanticipated, unceremonious, uncivil, unedged, unexpected, unforeseen, unlooked-for,
unplanned, unpointed, unpredicted, unsharp, unsharpened, vertical