ABRUPT

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does abrupt mean? 

• ABRUPT (adjective)
  The adjective ABRUPT has 4 senses:

1. marked by sudden changes in subject and sharp transitions

2. exceedingly sudden and unexpected

3. extremely steep

4. surprisingly and unceremoniously brusque in manner

  Familiarity information: ABRUPT used as an adjective is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ABRUPT (adjective)

Comparative: abrupter   
Superlative: abruptest   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Marked by sudden changes in subject and sharp transitions

Synonyms:

abrupt; disconnected

Context example:

abrupt prose

Similar:

disconnected; staccato ((music) marked by or composed of disconnected parts or sounds; cut short crisply)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Exceedingly sudden and unexpected

Context example:

an abrupt change in the weather

Similar:

sudden (happening without warning or in a short space of time)

Derivation:

abruptness (the quality of happening with headlong haste or without warning)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Extremely steep

Synonyms:

abrupt; precipitous; sharp

Context example:

a sharp drop

Similar:

steep (having a sharp inclination)

Derivation:

abruptness (the property possessed by a slope that is very steep)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Surprisingly and unceremoniously brusque in manner

Context example:

an abrupt reply

Similar:

discourteous (showing no courtesy; rude)

Derivation:

abruptness (an abrupt discourteous manner)

 Context examples 

The transition from Ruth to this had been too abrupt.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

The findings suggest that abrupt, short-lived climate events can cause long-term alterations in polar regions that unfold over the span of several years and subsequently change the overall trajectory of an ecosystem.

(Extreme melt season leads to decade-long ecosystem changes in Antarctica's Dry Valleys, National Science Foundation)

They confirmed that changes in the ocean conveyor belt preceded abrupt and major climatic changes during the transition out of the last ice age, referred to as the last deglaciation.

(A new study is the first to measure the time lags between changing ocean currents and major climate shifts., University of Cambridge)

‘I feel that I owe you a great many apologies for my abrupt departure yesterday, doctor,’ said my patient.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

They were within twenty yards of each other, and so abrupt was his appearance, that it was impossible to avoid his sight.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

I can hardly see how the lady could have acted otherwise, though her abrupt method of doing it was undoubtedly to be regretted.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I could see that there were other questions which Holmes would have wished to put, but the nobleman’s abrupt manner showed that the interview was at an end.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The final death event, which occurred approximately 10,000 years ago — before the emergence of the modern reef, was not clearly linked to any abrupt sea-level rise or post-glacial meltwater pulse.

(Major study reveals Great Barrier Reef’s 30,000-year fight for survival, University of Granada)

A solitary fibrous tumor characterized by the presence of areas of abrupt transition to high grade sarcoma.

(Dedifferentiated Solitary Fibrous Tumor, NCI Thesaurus)

An electrocardiographic finding of episodic tachycardia with abrupt onset and termination.

(Paroxysmal Tachycardia by ECG Finding, NCI Thesaurus)