abrupt

• POS: Adjective
• HYPHEN: ab=rupt

CIDE DICTIONARY

abrupt, a. [L. abruptus, p. p. of abrumpere to break off; ab + rumpere to break. See Rupture.].

•  Broken off; very steep, or craggy, as rocks, precipices, banks; precipitous; steep; as, abrupt places.  Thomson.  [1913 Webster]
•  Without notice to prepare the mind for the event; sudden; hasty; unceremonious.  Shak.  [1913 Webster]
•  Having sudden transitions from one subject to another; unconnected.  [1913 Webster]

  "The abrupt style, which hath many breaches."  [1913 Webster]
•  Suddenly terminating, as if cut off.  Gray.  [1913 Webster]

Syn. -- Sudden; unexpected; hasty; rough; curt; unceremonious; rugged; blunt; disconnected; broken.

abrupt, n. [L. abruptum.].

 An abrupt place.  [1913 Webster]

abrupt, v. t. 

 To tear off or asunder.  Sir T. Browne.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

abrupt, adj.
1 sudden and unexpected; hasty (his abrupt departure).
2 (of speech, manner, etc.) uneven; lacking continuity; curt.
3 steep, precipitous.
4 Bot. truncated.
5 Geol. (of strata) suddenly appearing at the surface.

Derivative

abruptly adv. abruptness n.

Etymology

L abruptus past part. of abrumpere (as AB-, rumpere break)

DEVIL DICTIONARY

abrupt

adj. Sudden, without ceremony, like the arrival of a cannon- shot and the departure of the soldier whose interests are most affected by it. Dr. Samuel Johnson beautifully said of another author's ideas that they were "concatenated without abruption."

THESAURUS

abrupt

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

ROGET THESAURUS

abrupt

Inelegance

N inelegance, stiffness, unlettered Muse, barbarism, slang, solecism, mannerism, euphuism, fustian, cacophony, words that break the teeth, words that dislocate the jaw, marinism, inelegant, graceless, ungraceful, harsh, abrupt, dry, stiff, cramped, formal, guinde, forced, labored, artificial, mannered, ponderous, awkward, uncourtly, unpolished, turgid, affected, euphuistic, barbarous, uncouth, grotesque, rude, crude, halting, offensive to ears polite, Spoken Language.

Instantaneity

N instantaneity, instantaneousness, immediacy, suddenness, abruptness, moment, instant, second, minute, twinkling, trice, flash, breath, crack, jiffy, coup, burst, flash of lightning, stroke of time, epoch, time, time of day, time of night, hour, minute, very minute, very time, very hour, present time, right time, true time, exact correct time, instantaneous, momentary, sudden, immediate, instant, abrupt, discontinuous, precipitous, precipitant, precipitate, subitaneous, hasty, quick as thought, quick as lightning, quick as a flash, rapid as electricity, speedy, quick, fast, fleet, swift, lively, blitz, rapid (velocity), instantaneously, in no time, in less than no time, presto, subito, instanter, suddenly, at a stroke, like a shot, in a moment, in the blink of an eye, in the twinkling of an eye, in a trice, in one's tracks, right away, toute a l'heure, at one jump, in the same breath, per saltum, uno saltu, at once, all at once, plump, slap, at one fell swoop, at the same instant, immediately, extempore, on the moment, on the spot, on the spur of the moment, no sooner said than done, just then, slap-dash, touch and go, no sooner said than done.

Violence

N violence, inclemency, vehemence, might, impetuosity, boisterousness, effervescence, ebullition, turbulence, bluster, uproar, callithump, riot, row, rumpus, le diable a quatre, devil to pay, all the fat in the fire, severity, ferocity, rage, fury, exacerbation, exasperation, malignity, fit, paroxysm, orgasm, climax, aphrodisia, force, brute force, outrage, coup de main, strain, shock, shog, spasm, convulsion, throe, hysterics, passion, outbreak, outburst, debacle, burst, bounce, dissilience, discharge, volley, explosion, blow up, blast, detonation, rush, eruption, displosion, torrent, turmoil, ferment, storm, tempest, rough weather, squall, earthquake, volcano, thunderstorm, berserk, berserker, fury, dragon, demon, tiger, beldame, Tisiphone, Megaera, Alecto, madcap, wild beast, fire eater, violent, vehement, warm, acute, sharp, rough, rude, ungentle, bluff, boisterous, wild, brusque, abrupt, waspish, impetuous, rampant, turbulent, disorderly, blustering, raging, troublous, riotous, tumultuary, tumultuous, obstreperous, uproarious, extravagant, unmitigated, ravening, inextinguishable, tameless, frenzied, desperate, infuriate, furious, outrageous, frantic, hysteric, in hysterics, fiery, flaming, scorching, hot, red-hot, ebullient, savage, fierce, ferocious, fierce as a tiger, excited, unquelled, unquenched, unextinguished, unrepressed, unbridled, unruly, headstrong, ungovernable, unappeasable, immitigable, unmitigable, uncontrollable, incontrollable, insuppressible, irrepressible, orgastic, orgasmatic, orgasmic, spasmodic, convulsive, explosive, detonating, volcanic, meteoric, stormy, violently, amain, by storm, by force, by main force, with might and main, tooth and nail, vi et armis, at the point of the sword, at the point of the bayonet, at one fell swoop, with a high hand, through thick and thin, in desperation, with a vengeance, a outrance, a toute outrance, headlong, head foremost, furor arma ministrat, blown with restless violence round about the pende.