abrupt adj
1. marked by sudden changes in subject and sharp transitions; "abrupt prose" [syn: 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: precipitous, sharp]
4. surprisingly and unceremoniously brusque in manner; "an abrupt reply"

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.
2. Without notice to prepare the mind for the event; sudden; hasty; unceremonious. ``The cause of your abrupt departure.'' --Shak.
3. Having sudden transitions from one subject to another; unconnected. The abrupt style, which hath many breaches. --B. Jonson.

Abrupt \Ab*rupt"\, n. [L. abruptum.] An abrupt place. [Poetic] ``Over the vast abrupt.'' --Milton.

Abrupt \Ab*rupt"\, v. t. To tear off or asunder. [Obs.] ``Till death abrupts them.'' --Sir T. Browne.

See more meaning on Abrupt...

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