ABRUPT

abrupt

(adjective) surprisingly and unceremoniously brusque in manner; “an abrupt reply”

abrupt

(adjective) exceedingly sudden and unexpected; “came to an abrupt stop”; “an abrupt change in the weather”

abrupt, precipitous, sharp

(adjective) extremely steep; “an abrupt canyon”; “the precipitous rapids of the upper river”; “the precipitous hills of Chinese paintings”; “a sharp drop”

abrupt, disconnected

(adjective) marked by sudden changes in subject and sharp transitions; “abrupt prose”

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Adjective

abrupt (comparative more abrupt or abrupter, superlative most abrupt or abruptest)

(obsolete, rare) Broken away (from restraint). [Attested only in the late 16th century.]

Without notice to prepare the mind for the event; sudden; hasty; unceremonious. [First attested in the late 16th century.]

Curt in manner. [First attested in the late 16th century.]

Synonyms: brusque, rude, uncivil, impolite

Having sudden transitions from one subject or state to another; unconnected; disjointed. [First attested in the late 16th century.]

(obsolete) Broken off. [Attested from the early 17th century until the mid 18th century.]

Extremely steep or craggy as if broken up; precipitous. [First attested in the early 17th century.]

(botany) Suddenly terminating, as if cut off; truncate. [First attested in the early 19th century.]

Synonyms

• (precipitous): broken, rough, rugged

• (without time to prepare): sudden; see also sudden

• (uncivil): blunt, brusque

• (without transition): disconnected, unexpected

Verb

abrupt (third-person singular simple present abrupts, present participle abrupting, simple past and past participle abrupted)

(transitive, archaic) To tear off or asunder. [First attested in the mid 17th century.]

To interrupt suddenly. [First attested in the mid 17th century.]

Noun

abrupt (plural abrupts)

(poetic) Something which is abrupt; an abyss. [First attested in the mid 17th century.]

Source: Wiktionary


Ab*rupt", a. Etym: [L. abruptus, p. p. of abrumpere to break off; ab + rumpere to break. See Rupture.]

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.)

Definition: Suddenly terminating, as if cut off. Gray.

Syn.

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

Ab*rupt", n. Etym: [L. abruptum.]

Definition: An abrupt place. [Poetic] "Over the vast abrupt." Milton.

Ab*rupt", v. t.

Definition: To tear off or asunder. [Obs.] "Till death abrupts them." Sir T. Browne.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

25 April 2024

TYPIFY

(verb) embody the essential characteristics of or be a typical example of; “The fugue typifies Bach’s style of composition”


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Coffee Trivia

The earliest credible evidence of coffee-drinking as the modern beverage appeared in modern-day Yemen. In the middle of the 15th century in Sufi shrines where coffee seeds were first roasted and brewed for drinking. The Yemenis procured the coffee beans from the Ethiopian Highlands.

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