SUDDEN • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Sudden

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/sˈədən/ Listen

adjective

Sudden adj.

Happening without previous notice or with very brief notice; coming unexpectedly, or without the common preparation; immediate; instant; speedy. "O sudden wo!" "For fear of sudden death." "Sudden fear troubleth thee."

Hastly prepared or employed; quick; rapid. "Never was such a sudden scholar made." "The apples of Asphaltis, appearing goodly to the sudden eye."

Hasty; violent; rash; precipitate. (Obs.)

Synonyms: Unexpected; unusual; abrupt; unlooked-for.

noun

Sudden n. An unexpected occurrence; a surprise.

All of a sudden, On a sudden, Of a sudden, sooner than was expected; without the usual preparation; suddenly. "How art thou lost! how on a sudden lost!" "He withdrew his opposition all of a sudden."

adverb

Sudden adv. Suddenly; unexpectedly. (R.) "Herbs of every leaf that sudden flowered."

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Etymology of 'Sudden'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Sudden" Quotes from Famous Books

... confirm his words outflew Millions of flaming Swords, drawn from the thighs Of mighty Cherubim; the sudden Blaze Far round ...

— The Spectator, Volume 2. • Addison and Steele

... question, Losely drew himself up with a sudden loftiness of look and gesture, which, though prompted but by offended vanity, improved the expression of the countenance, and restored to it much of its earlier character. Mrs. Crane gazed on him, startled into admiration, and it was in an altered voice, ...

— What Will He Do With It, Complete • Edward Bulwer-Lytton

... standing together by the railings to see the boat start from the landing-place, the wheel had made two or three revolutions in the water, when, by some sudden movement, the little one suddenly lost her balance and fell sheer over the side of the boat into the water. Her father, scarce knowing what he did, was plunging in after her, but was held back by some behind him, who saw that more efficient aid had ...

— Uncle Tom's Cabin • Harriet Beecher Stowe

... that it stood him in good stead to leave with natives the impression that he was to some extent possessed of more or less miraculous powers. He might easily have entered their village without recourse to the gates, but he believed that a sudden and unaccountable disappearance when he was ready to leave them would result in a more lasting impression upon their childlike minds, and so as soon as the village was quiet in sleep he rose, and, leaping into the branches of the tree above him, faded silently into the ...

— The Beasts of Tarzan • Edgar Rice Burroughs

... magic, its appearance was so sudden. A moment before there was a glorious sunset, now we had impenetrable darkness. We were enveloped as it were in a cloud, the more dense perhaps because its progress was arrested by the spruce hills, back of the village, and it had receded upon itself. The little French ...

— Nature and Human Nature • Thomas Chandler Haliburton

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