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Definition of abrupt


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a·brupt  audio  (-brpt) KEY  

ADJECTIVE:
  1. Unexpectedly sudden: an abrupt change in the weather.
  2. Surprisingly curt; brusque: an abrupt answer made in anger.
  3. Touching on one subject after another with sudden transitions: abrupt prose.
  4. Steeply inclined. See Synonyms at steep 1.
  5. 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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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition.
Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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