abrupt

What it means

1. obsoleterareBroken away (from restraint).First known use Attested only in the late 16th century.
2. Without notice to prepare the mind for the event; sudden; hasty; unceremonious.First known use First attested in the late 16th century.

   The party came to an abrupt end when the parents of our host arrived.

   3 more examples

   The cause of your abrupt departure.

   1592, William Shakespeare, Henry VI Part I, II-iii

   There was something in this abrupt allusion to the treasured and hidden past, that at once shocked and silenced Norbourne. He was annoyed to find that his heart's sweetest secret was in the possession of one so little likely to keep it;...

   1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “Success”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 76

   'Is it a slickstone?' she asks, and Maren snorts, an abrupt sound, bringing her hand up to her mouth.

   2020 January 28, Kiran Millwood Hargrave, The Mercies, →ISBN, page 130

   Synonyms: sudden, disconnected, unexpected

3. Curt in manner.First known use First attested in the late 16th century.

   1 more example

   With no great disparity between them in point of years, they were, in every other respect, as unlike and far removed from each other as two men could well be. The one was soft-spoken, delicately made, precise, and elegant; the other, a burly square-built man, negligently dressed, rough and abrupt in manner, stern, and, in his present mood, forbidding both in look and speech.

   1841 February–November, Charles Dickens, “Barnaby Rudge. Chapter 12.”, in Master Humphrey’s Clock, volume II, London: Chapman & Hall, […], →OCLC, page 301

   Synonyms: brusque, rude, uncivil, impolite, terse, brisk, blunt, brusque

In a sentence

The party came to an abrupt end when the parents of our host arrived.

Where it comes from

1. Latinabruptus“broken off”
2. Englishabrupt

First attested in 1583. Borrowed from Latin abruptus (“broken off”), perfect passive participle of abrumpō (“break off”), formed from ab (“from, away from”) + rumpō (“to break”).

First known use: Attested only in the late 16th century.