Search Result for "abrupt": 
Wordnet 3.0

ADJECTIVE (4)

1. marked by sudden changes in subject and sharp transitions;
- Example: "abrupt prose"
[syn: abrupt, disconnected]

2. exceedingly sudden and unexpected;
- Example: "came to an abrupt stop"
- Example: "an abrupt change in the weather"

3. extremely steep;
- Example: "an abrupt canyon"
- Example: "the precipitous rapids of the upper river"
- Example: "the precipitous hills of Chinese paintings"
- Example: "a sharp drop"
[syn: abrupt, precipitous, sharp]

4. surprisingly and unceremoniously brusque in manner;
- Example: "an abrupt reply"



The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Abrupt \Ab*rupt"\, n. [L. abruptum.]
   An abrupt place. [Poetic]

         "Over the vast abrupt."                  --Milton.
   [1913 Webster]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Abrupt \Ab*rupt"\, v. t.
   To tear off or asunder. [Obs.] "Till death abrupts them."
   --Sir T. Browne.
   [1913 Webster]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Abrupt \Ab*rupt"\, a. [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.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. Without notice to prepare the mind for the event; sudden;
      hasty; unceremonious. "The cause of your abrupt
      departure." --Shak.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. Having sudden transitions from one subject to another;
      unconnected.
      [1913 Webster]

            The abrupt style, which hath many breaches. --B.
                                                  Jonson.
      [1913 Webster]

   4. (Bot.) Suddenly terminating, as if cut off. --Gray.
      [1913 Webster]

   Syn: Sudden; unexpected; hasty; rough; curt; unceremonious;
        rugged; blunt; disconnected; broken.
        [1913 Webster]


WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

abrupt
    adj 1: marked by sudden changes in subject and sharp
           transitions; "abrupt prose" [syn: abrupt,
           disconnected]
    2: exceedingly sudden and unexpected; "came to an abrupt stop";
       "an abrupt change in the weather"
    3: extremely steep; "an abrupt canyon"; "the precipitous rapids
       of the upper river"; "the precipitous hills of Chinese
       paintings"; "a sharp drop" [syn: abrupt, precipitous,
       sharp]
    4: surprisingly and unceremoniously brusque in manner; "an
       abrupt reply"


The Devil's Dictionary (1881-1906):

ABRUPT, adj.  Sudden, without ceremony, like the arrival of a cannon-
shot and the departure of the soldier whose interests are most
affected by it.  Dr. Samuel Johnson beautifully said of another
author's ideas that they were "concatenated without abruption."