all of a sudden

all·of·a·sud·den
US/ˌɔl əv ə ˈsʌdən/

adverb

Suddenly, quickly, without warning.

“All of a sudden I felt very hot and tired.”

Similar
all at onceat one strokein one fell swoopjust like thatout of the bluesuddenlyon the spur of the momentof a sudden
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Meanings

adverball of a sudden (not comparable)

alternative all of the sudden · alternative all the sudden · alternative Scotland all on a sudden · alternative of a sudden · alternative obsolete on a sudden · alternative obsolete upon a sudden

  1. colloquialnot comparableset phraseSuddenly, quickly, without warning.

    All of a sudden I felt very hot and tired.

    1 more example

    ― Enju: “Wh-What?! What are you saying all of a sudden?! Idiot! Hentai!”

    2016 December 19, Moe! Ninja Girls, Japan: NTT Solmare, iOS, Android, scene: Season 3, Chapter 3

    Synonyms: all at once, at one stroke, in one fell swoop, just like that, out of the blue

Synonyms & antonyms

adverbSuddenly, quickly, without warning.

Similar
all at onceat one strokein one fell swoopjust like thatout of the blue

More synonyms by meaning

adverbsuddenly

Similar
all at once

adverbquickly and without warning

Similar
suddenlyon the spur of the momentof a suddenabruptlydeadshort
Also see
abruptlyall at onceat one strokedeadjust like thatlike thatshortsuddenly

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Translations

Ancient Greek αἶψα, ἐξαπίνης
  • αἶψα (aîpsa)colloquial: suddenly — see also suddenly
  • ἐξαπίνης (exapínēs)colloquial: suddenly — see also suddenly
Arabic فَجْأَةً
  • فَجْأَةً (fajʔatan)colloquial: suddenly — see also suddenly
Bengali হঠাৎ
  • হঠাৎ (hoṭhat)colloquial: suddenly — see also suddenly
Catalan de cop, en sec
  • de copcolloquial: suddenly — see also suddenly
  • en seccolloquial: suddenly — see also suddenly
  • de sobtecolloquial: suddenly — see also suddenly
  • de bursadacolloquial: suddenly — see also suddenly
  • d'improvíscolloquial: suddenly — see also suddenly
  • tot d'unacolloquial: suddenly — see also suddenly
Chinese Mandarin 突然, 忽然
  • 突然 (tūrán)colloquial: suddenly — see also suddenly
  • 忽然 (hūrán)colloquial: suddenly — see also suddenly
  • 一下子 (yīxiàzi)colloquial: suddenly — see also suddenly
Czech najednou
  • najednoucolloquial: suddenly — see also suddenly
Danish pludselig
  • pludseligcolloquial: suddenly — see also suddenly
Dutch plotseling, opeens
  • plotselingcolloquial: suddenly — see also suddenly
  • opeenscolloquial: suddenly — see also suddenly
  • ineenscolloquial: suddenly — see also suddenly
Finnish yhtäkkiä, äkkiä
  • yhtäkkiäcolloquial: suddenly — see also suddenly
  • äkkiäcolloquial: suddenly — see also suddenly
  • äkkiarvaamattacolloquial: suddenly — see also suddenly
  • äkisticolloquial: suddenly — see also suddenly
French soudain, soudainement
  • soudaincolloquial: suddenly — see also suddenly
  • soudainementcolloquial: suddenly — see also suddenly
  • subitementcolloquial: suddenly — see also suddenly
  • tout à coupcolloquial: suddenly — see also suddenly
  • tout d'un coupcolloquial: suddenly — see also suddenly
German auf einmal, mit einem Mal
  • auf einmalcolloquial: suddenly — see also suddenly
  • mit einem Malcolloquial: suddenly — see also suddenly
Greek ξαφνικά
  • ξαφνικά (xafniká)colloquial: suddenly — see also suddenly
Hebrew פִּתְאוֹם
  • פִּתְאוֹם (pit'óm)colloquial: suddenly — see also suddenly
Hindi अचानक
  • अचानक (acānak)colloquial: suddenly — see also suddenly
Hungarian hirtelen, váratlanul
  • hirtelencolloquial: suddenly — see also suddenly
  • váratlanulcolloquial: suddenly — see also suddenly
  • egyszer csakcolloquial: suddenly — see also suddenly
  • egyszerre csakcolloquial: suddenly — see also suddenly
Icelandic allt í einu
  • allt í einucolloquial: suddenly — see also suddenly
Indonesian tiba-tiba
  • tiba-tibacolloquial: suddenly — see also suddenly
Irish de phreab
  • de phreabcolloquial: suddenly — see also suddenly
Italian all'improvviso, see also Thesaurus:improvvisamente
  • all'improvvisocolloquial: suddenly — see also suddenly
  • see also Thesaurus:improvvisamentecolloquial: suddenly — see also suddenly
Japanese 突然, 突然に
  • 突然 (totsuzen)colloquial: suddenly — see also suddenly
  • 突然に (totsuzen ni)colloquial: suddenly — see also suddenly
  • 行き成り (ikinari)colloquial: suddenly — see also suddenly
Korean 갑자기, 불현듯
  • 갑자기 (gapjagi)colloquial: suddenly — see also suddenly
  • 불현듯 (bulhyeondeut)colloquial: suddenly — see also suddenly
  • 불현듯이 (bulhyeondeusi)colloquial: suddenly — see also suddenly
Latvian pēkšņi
  • pēkšņicolloquial: suddenly — see also suddenly
Norwegian plutselig
  • plutseligcolloquial: suddenly — see also suddenly
Polish nagle, z nagła
  • naglecolloquial: suddenly — see also suddenly
  • z nagłacolloquial: suddenly — see also suddenly
Portuguese subitamente, de repente
  • subitamentecolloquial: suddenly — see also suddenly
  • de repentecolloquial: suddenly — see also suddenly
  • repentinamentecolloquial: suddenly — see also suddenly
Romanian deodată, dintr-o dată
  • deodatăcolloquial: suddenly — see also suddenly
  • dintr-o datăcolloquial: suddenly — see also suddenly
Russian вдруг, внеза́пно
  • вдруг (vdrug)colloquial: suddenly — see also suddenly
  • внеза́пно (vnezápno)colloquial: suddenly — see also suddenly
  • неожи́данно (neožídanno)colloquial: suddenly — see also suddenly
  • ра́зом (rázom)colloquial: suddenly — see also suddenly
Scottish Gaelic gu grad
  • gu gradcolloquial: suddenly — see also suddenly
Spanish de repente, de pronto
  • de repentecolloquial: suddenly — see also suddenly
  • de prontocolloquial: suddenly — see also suddenly
  • de golpecolloquial: suddenly — see also suddenly
  • de golpe y porrazocolloquial: suddenly — see also suddenly
  • de buenas a primerascolloquial: suddenly — see also suddenly
  • al primer envitecolloquial: suddenly — see also suddenly
  • de súbitocolloquial: suddenly — see also suddenly
Swedish plötsligt, hux flux
  • plötsligtcolloquial: suddenly — see also suddenly
  • hux fluxcolloquial: suddenly — see also suddenly
Thai อยู่ดีๆ, อยู่ๆ
  • อยู่ดีๆcolloquial: suddenly — see also suddenly
  • อยู่ๆcolloquial: suddenly — see also suddenly
  • จู่ๆcolloquial: suddenly — see also suddenly
Turkish birden
  • birdencolloquial: suddenly — see also suddenly
Vietnamese trong nháy mắt, trong tích tắc
  • trong nháy mắtcolloquial: suddenly — see also suddenly
  • trong tích tắccolloquial: suddenly — see also suddenly
  • trong một nốt nhạccolloquial: suddenly — see also suddenly
Cite this entry
APA

all of a sudden. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/all%20of%20a%20sudden

MLA

“all of a sudden.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/all%20of%20a%20sudden. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “all of a sudden,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/all%20of%20a%20sudden.

Source: all of a sudden on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.