Lexic.us

Definition of Abrupt

1. Adjective. Marked by sudden changes in subject and sharp transitions. "Abrupt prose"

2. Adjective. Exceedingly sudden and unexpected. "An abrupt change in the weather"

3. Adjective. Extremely steep. "A sharp drop"

4. Adjective. Surprisingly and unceremoniously brusque in manner. "An abrupt reply"

Definition of Abrupt

1. a. Broken off; very steep, or craggy, as rocks, precipices, banks; precipitous; steep; as, abrupt places.

2. n. An abrupt place.

3. v. t. To tear off or asunder.

Definition of Abrupt

1. Adjective. Extremely steep or craggy as if broken up; precipitous. ¹

2. Adjective. Without notice to prepare the mind for the event; sudden; hasty; unceremonious. ¹

3. Adjective. Curt in manner; rude; uncivil; impolite. ¹

4. Adjective. Having sudden transitions from one subject or state to another; unconnected. ¹

5. Adjective. (botany) Suddenly terminating, as if cut off; truncate. ¹

6. Verb. (context: transitive archaic) To tear off or asunder. ¹

7. Verb. To interrupt suddenly. ¹

8. Noun. (poetic) Something which is abrupt. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Abrupt

1. rudely brief [adj -RUPTER, -RUPTEST] : ABRUPTLY [adv]

Medical Definition of Abrupt

1. Something that is sudden and unexpected. (18 Nov 1997)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Abrupt

abrogator abrogators abrood abrook abrooke abrooked abrookes abrooking abrooks abrosia

abrosias abrotanum abrotanums abrotine abrotines abrupt (current term) abrupt cessation abrupted abrupter abruptest

abrupting abruptio placentae abruptio placentarum abruption abruptiones placentarum abruptions abruptly abruptly-pinnate abruptly-pinnate leaf abruptness

Literary usage of Abrupt

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Poetry as a Representative Art: An Essay in Comparative Aesthetics by George Lansing Raymond (1899)
"It may be abrupt or smooth, each respectively representing the amount of mere ... For instance, we must all perceive the abrupt effects produced by the ..."

2. Science Abstracts by Institution of Electrical Engineers (1900)
"The transition from the one to the other is abrupt, being distributed over a ... For hydrogen the coefficient of this abrupt change of temperature is- ..."

3. The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection: Or, The Preservation of by Charles Darwin (1889)
"... for disbelieving in great and abrupt modifications. I WILL devote this chapter to the consideration of various miscellaneous objections which have been ..."

4. Astronomy and Astro-physics by European Southern Observatory, Goodsell Observatory (1884)
"Large tail, as formerly, abrupt and "swallow tailed." Broader than formerly; southern side much the brighter. Oct. 26.7. Bright Moon. ..."

5. System of Positive Polity by Auguste Comte (1876)
"It is imagined that there was an abrupt not abrupt. change from complete vagabondage to immovable residence. The first state only existed among exceptional ..."

6. Daniel Deronda by George Eliot (1876)
"Her tone was abrupt and scornful. Deronda, in his pained feeling, and under the solemn urgency of the moment, had to keep a clutching remembrance of their ..."

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