Suddenly — meaning, pronunciation & more

Definition

happening unexpectedly

quickly and without warning

Pronunciation

🇺🇸American English

/sˈʌdənli/

🇬🇧British English

/sˈʌdənli/

🇮🇳Indian English

/sˈʌdənli/

3 syllables Say it as /sˈʌdənli/.

Examples

suddenly she felt a sharp pain in her side
he stopped suddenly
he decided to go to Chicago on the spur of the moment

Synonyms & Antonyms

Synonyms

dead of a sudden on the spur of the moment all of a sudden abruptly short

Parts of Speech

adverb	happening unexpectedly “suddenly she felt a sharp pain in her side”
adverb	quickly and without warning “he stopped suddenly”
adverb	on impulse; without premeditation “he decided to go to Chicago on the spur of the moment”

Around the World

Europe

🇩🇪German

plötzlich

geschieht unerwartet

🇫🇷French

soudainement

se produit de manière inattendue

🇪🇸Spanish

de repente

sucediendo inesperadamente

🇮🇹Italian

All'improvviso

accadendo inaspettatamente

🇳🇱Dutch

plotseling

gebeurt onverwacht

🇵🇹Portuguese

de repente

acontecendo inesperadamente

🇷🇺Russian

внезапно

происходит неожиданно

India

🇮🇳Hindi

अचानक

अप्रत्याशित रूप से हो रहा है

🇧🇩Bengali

হঠাৎ

অপ্রত্যাশিতভাবে ঘটছে

🇮🇳Tamil

திடீரென்று

எதிர்பாராத விதமாக நடக்கிறது

🇮🇳Telugu

అకస్మాత్తుగా

ఊహించని విధంగా జరుగుతుంది

🇮🇳Marathi

अचानक

अनपेक्षितपणे घडत आहे

🇮🇳Gujarati

અચાનક

અણધારી રીતે થાય છે

🇮🇳Kannada

ಇದ್ದಕ್ಕಿದ್ದಂತೆ

ಅನಿರೀಕ್ಷಿತವಾಗಿ ನಡೆಯುತ್ತಿದೆ

🇮🇳Malayalam

പെട്ടെന്ന്

അപ്രതീക്ഷിതമായി സംഭവിക്കുന്നത്

🇮🇳Punjabi

ਅਚਾਨਕ

ਅਚਾਨਕ ਹੋ ਰਿਹਾ ਹੈ

🇵🇰Urdu

اچانک

غیر متوقع طور پر ہو رہا ہے

East & Southeast Asia

🇨🇳Chinese

突然

出乎意料地发生

🇯🇵Japanese

突然

予期せぬことが起こる

🇰🇷Korean

갑자기

예기치 않게 일어나는 일

🇻🇳Vietnamese

đột nhiên

xảy ra bất ngờ

🇹🇭Thai

กะทันหัน

เกิดขึ้นโดยไม่คาดคิด

🇮🇩Indonesian

Tiba-tiba

terjadi secara tak terduga

🇵🇭Filipino

biglaan

nangyayari nang hindi inaasahan

🇲🇾Malay

tiba-tiba

berlaku tanpa diduga

Middle East

🇸🇦Arabic

فجأة

يحدث بشكل غير متوقع

🇮🇷Persian

به طور ناگهانی

به طور غیر منتظره اتفاق می افتد

🇹🇷Turkish

Birden

beklenmedik bir şekilde oluyor

🇮🇱Hebrew

פִּתְאוֹם

קורה באופן בלתי צפוי

Test Yourself1 / 3

What is the primary definition of the word 'suddenly'?

The primary meaning of 'suddenly' is 'happening unexpectedly'.

Which of the following sentences uses the word 'suddenly' in a grammatically correct way?

Using 'suddenly' in a noun/adjective form makes the first sentence correct.

In which domain is the word 'suddenly' most likely to appear as standard vocabulary?

'suddenly' is a standard word used primarily in general literature and formal communications.

Community Poll1 / 6

How often do you encounter the word 'suddenly' in your daily reading?

Very Often

Occasionally

Rarely

Never

Do you find 'suddenly' easy to spell?

Yes, very easy

Somewhat easy

A bit confusing

Extremely hard

In your opinion, does the word 'suddenly' have a positive, neutral, or gloomy tone?

Positive

Neutral

Gloomy

Vibrant

Which age group is most likely to use 'suddenly' in regular conversations?

Kids (3-12)

Teens (13-19)

Adults (20-60)

Seniors (60+)

How likely are you to use 'suddenly' in a professional email?

Very likely

Somewhat likely

Not very likely

Never

Would you classify 'suddenly' as formal, casual, or slang?

Formal

Casual

Slang

Archaic

Pick an option to see how others voted