sudden
English
Etymology
From Middle English sodeyn, sodain, from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Lua error in Module:parameters at line 95: Parameter 1 should be a valid language code; the value "xno" is not valid. See WT:LOL. sodein, from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Old French sodain, subdain (“immediate, sudden”), from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Lua error in Module:parameters at line 95: Parameter 1 should be a valid language code; the value "VL." is not valid. See WT:LOL. *subitānus (“sudden”), from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] 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”).
Pronunciation
Adjective
sudden (comparative more sudden, superlative most sudden)
- Happening quickly and with little or no warning.
- 1552, The Boke of Common Prayer [etc.][1], The Letanie:
- From lightninges and tempeſtes, from plage, peſtilence, and famine, from battayle and murther, and from ſodayn death. / Good lord deliver us.
- 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 1, in Mr. Pratt's Patients:
- I stumbled along through the young pines and huckleberry bushes. Pretty soon I struck into a sort of path that, I cal'lated, might lead to the road I was hunting for. It twisted and turned, and, the first thing I knew, made a sudden bend around a bunch of bayberry scrub and opened out into a big clear space like a lawn.
- The sudden drop in temperature left everyone cold and confused.
- (obsolete) Hastily prepared or employed; quick; rapid.
- c. 1599, William Shakespeare, Henry V, act 1, scene 1:
- Never was such a sudden scholar made.
- 1649, John Milton, Eikonoklastes:
- Thus these pious flourishes and colours, examined thoroughly, are like the apples of Asphaltis, appearing goodly to the sudden eye; but look well upon them, or at least but touch them, and they turn into cinders.
- (obsolete) Hasty; violent; rash; precipitate.
- c. 1591–1595, William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, act 2, scene 2:
- I have no joy of this contract to-night: / It is too rash, too unadvised, too sudden;
Synonyms
- (happening quickly): abrupt, precipitous, subitaneous; see also Thesaurus:sudden
- (hasty, rash): hotheaded, impetuous, impulsive; see also Thesaurus:reckless
Antonyms
- (happening quickly): gradual; see also Thesaurus:gradual
- (all): unsudden
Derived terms
Derived terms
Translations
happening quickly and with little or no warning
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Adverb
sudden (comparative more sudden, superlative most sudden)
- (poetic) Suddenly.
- (Can we date this quote by Milton and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
- Herbs of every leaf that sudden flowered.
- (Can we date this quote by Milton and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
Noun
sudden (plural suddens)
- (obsolete) An unexpected occurrence; a surprise.
Derived terms
Translations
surprise — see surprise
Further reading
- “sudden”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- “sudden”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
- “sudden”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
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