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a·brupt
 (  -br  pt  )
KEY
ADJECTIVE:
- Unexpectedly sudden:
an abrupt change in the weather.
- Surprisingly curt; brusque:
an abrupt answer made in anger.
- Touching on one subject after another with sudden transitions:
abrupt prose.
- Steeply inclined. See Synonyms at steep
1.
-
Botany
Terminating suddenly rather than gradually; truncate:
an abrupt leaf.
ETYMOLOGY:
Latin abruptus, past participle of abrumpere, to break off : ab-, away ; see
ab-
1 + rumpere, to break; see reup- in Indo-European roots
OTHER FORMS:
a·bruptly
(Adverb),
a·bruptness
(Noun)
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