abrupt Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. adjective satellite marked by sudden changes in subject and sharp transitions
    disconnected.
    • abrupt prose
  2. adjective satellite exceedingly sudden and unexpected
    • came to an abrupt stop
    • an abrupt change in the weather
  3. adjective satellite extremely steep
    sharp; precipitous.
    • an abrupt canyon
    • the precipitous rapids of the upper river
    • the precipitous hills of Chinese paintings
    • a sharp drop
  4. adjective satellite surprisingly and unceremoniously brusque in manner
    • an abrupt reply

WordNet

Ab*rupt" adjective
Etymology
L. abruptus, p. p. of abrumpere to break off; ab + rumpere to break. See Rupture.
Definitions
  1. Broken off; very steep, or craggy, as rocks, precipices, banks; precipitous; steep; as, abrupt places. "Tumbling through ricks abrupt," Thomson.
  2. Without notice to prepare the mind for the event; sudden; hasty; unceremonious. "The cause of your abrupt departure." Shak.
  3. Having sudden transitions from one subject to another; unconnected.
    The abrupt style, which hath many breaches. B. Jonson.
  4. (Bot.) Suddenly terminating, as if cut off. Gray. Syn. -- Sudden; unexpected; hasty; rough; curt; unceremonious; rugged; blunt; disconnected; broken.
Ab*rupt" noun
Etymology
L. abruptum.
Definitions
  1. An abrupt place. Poetic
    "Over the vast abrupt." Milton.
Ab*rupt" transitive verb
Definitions
  1. To tear off or asunder. Obs. "Till death abrupts them." Sir T. Browne.

Webster 1913