noun
definition
Something which is abrupt; an abyss.
verb
definition
To tear off or asunder.
definition
To interrupt suddenly.
adjective
definition
Broken away (from restraint).
definition
Without notice to prepare the mind for the event; sudden; hasty; unceremonious.
example
The party came to an abrupt end when the parents of our host arrived.
definition
Curt in manner.
synonyms
definition
Having sudden transitions from one subject or state to another; unconnected; disjointed.
definition
Broken off.
definition
Extremely steep or craggy as if broken up; precipitous.
definition
Suddenly terminating, as if cut off; truncate.
Examples of abrupt in a Sentence
He caught her arm, bringing her to an abrupt halt.
Now he was even being abrupt with the children.
He made an abrupt withdrawal.
She tends to be abrupt with people who interfere.
A strong hand gripped her arm, bringing her to an abrupt halt.
Tanganyika has been formed by the subsidence of a long narrow tract of country relatively to the surrounding plateaus, which fall to the lake in abrupt cliffs, some thousands of feet high in places.
Jennifer stops Brian from making a rather abrupt exit to check the stock.
Prince Andrew broke the silence with his abrupt voice, you were pleased to send me to Captain Tushin's battery.
Insect metamorphosis may be briefly described as phenomena of development characterized by abrupt changes of appearance and of structure, occurring during the period subsequent to embryonic development and antecedent to the reproductive state.
I cannot allow myself to hope again; the drop into failure is too abrupt.
The count listened with closed eyes, heaving abrupt sighs at certain passages.
I was slightly disappointed with the ending as I thought it was a little abrupt, but overall I enjoyed it.
There followed a long pause, followed by an abrupt thank-you and a dial tone.
The fusion of the two is found in the abrupt hiatus of iii.
Elisabeth noticed the abrupt change and suspected Jackson had something to do with it.
Is it possible, one cannot help asking, that the abrupt description of the strange fortunes of the "Servant" - by this time entirely personalized - was written to follow chap. lii.
The coast is for the most part abrupt and rocky, often leaving room for only a narrow path along the shore, and when viewed from the sea it does not suggest the extent of country lying between its cliffs and the lofty summits behind.
The snow-clad peaks of the main Caucasus, descending by short, steep slopes, fringe the valley on the north, while an abrupt escarpment, having the characteristics of a border ridge of the Armenian highlands, fronts it on the south.
I am sorry to sound so abrupt in this email; but clearly, something is seriously amiss at the Chartwell Gift Shop.
In places, as between Mafeking and Johannesburg, the descent is in terracelike steps, each step marked by a line of hills; in other places there is a gradual slope and elsewhere the descent is abrupt, with outlying hills and deep well-wooded valleys.
Nothing from the original tapes was omitted; one or two quick fades were done to make cuts less abrupt.
Unaccustomed to the abrupt treatment, he clenched his jaw and obeyed.
In the western portion of the county are the Few Mountains, a chain of abrupt hills mostly incapable of cultivation.
The onset of the flu was abrupt with fever followed by vomiting, abdominal pain and profuse diarrhea.
The Rocky Mountains, which give its charm to Alberta, are ascended by a gradual approach from the east, but are exceedingly abrupt on their transalpine slope in British Columbia.
The continental shelf is the gentle slope which extends from the edge of the land to a depth usually about loo, though in some cases as much as 300 fathoms, and is there demarcated by an abrupt increase in the steepness of the slope to ocean depths.
The head should be massive, a short muzzle with a somewhat abrupt stop and fairly prominent brow.
Ashwood Dale, Chee Dale, Millersdale, Monsal Dale and the valley at Matlock are all flanked by abrupt sides of this rock.
They made an abrupt halt on the eastern bank of the River Annan.
Of the thirteen parliaments summoned by that sovereign, only one, the last, was held at Edinburgh, but his assassination in the Blackfriars' monastery at Perth led to the abrupt transfer of the court and capital from the Tay to the Forth.
Abrupt cessation is recommended wherever possible.
Her abrupt contentedness was a warning he didn't understand how to interpret.
Maitea, which rises from the sea as an exceedingly abrupt cone, and Tapamanu, appear to be the only islands without almost completely encircling barrier-reefs.
The fall and rise of the road across the valley before the construction of the viaduct (1869) was abrupt and inconvenient.
Westward of Berbera the ascent to the high country is not so abrupt as in the east but is made by several steps, the mountains forming a chaotic mass.
The descent to the open country is somewhat abrupt.
The seaward slope of Croaghaun is abrupt and in parts precipitous, and its jagged flanks, together with the serrated ridge of the Head and the view over the broken coast-line and islands of the counties Mayo and Galway, attract many visitors to the island during summer.
Climatic agencies have smoothed and modified everything rugged or abrupt, until an impression of gentle undulation rather than of grandeur is suggested.
Their end can be either abrupt or somewhat intermittent.
There are several other times during pregnancy when backaches are common, but in the earliest stages, most back discomfort is caused by abrupt hormonal changes.
He filled Fred in on the details of Edith's visit and Cynthia's late night phone call and the abrupt end to the conversation.
The passage from winter to spring is very abrupt, and the prairies are rapidly clothed with vegetation, which, however, is soon scorched up by the sun.
The growth patterns of certain muscles in the beef carcass also may show an abrupt change in growth rate at birth.
The key to a great seasonal hair style is not to make any abrupt changes, unless you are interested in radically changing your look.
They occur in the deepest stage of sleep and are characterized by an abrupt arousal, usually within the first hour of sleep.
However, it can also be an indicator that your relationship will come to an abrupt end.
After three years, the relationship came to an abrupt and much talked-about end.
The abrupt cessation of such an inexhaustible fount of enterprise and energy was a distinct loss to Sweden; and signs are not wanting that, in his latter years, Charles had begun to feel the need and value of repose.
The onset may be abrupt, without any warning in the form of a period of gradual change in the child or adolescent's behavior.
Keep in mind that when you married your spouse, your stepchild's family dynamics took an abrupt turn.