Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

suddenly

/ˈsʌd.ən.li/

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.69 in modern English

Syllables: sud-den-ly
IPA: /ˈsʌd.ən.li/

13

Scrabble Score

8

Letters

3

Syllables

7

Unique Chars

Meaning

adv

Happening quickly and with little or no warning; in a sudden manner.

Example Sentences

"Suddenly, the heavens opened and we all got drenched."
"They've suddenly decided to sell the house."
"The king before he would take his voyage, sent the Erle of Huntyngdon to ſerche and ſcowre the Seas, leaſt any Frenchmen lyeng in wayte for him might attrap him sodeinly, or he had any knowledge of their ſetting forward."
"Shannon Spann had an infant, Jake, to care for and two stepdaughters to suddenly raise by herself."
"But ever since the concept of "hamartia" recurred through Aristotle's Poetics, in an attempt to describe man's ingrained iniquity, our impulse has been to identify a telling defect in those brought suddenly and dramatically low."

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English sodenly, sodeynly, sodeinliche, sodaynlyche; equivalent to sudden + -ly.

Origin

Source language: Middle English

Word Breakdown

Root: sodenly

Inflected Forms

more suddenly (comparative) most suddenly (superlative) sodeinly (alternative, obsolete)

Derived Forms

suddenliness

Synonyms

all of a sudden on the spur of the moment of a sudden abruptly dead short

Antonyms

unsuddenly

Questions

How do you pronounce suddenly?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈsʌd.ən.li/.
What does suddenly mean?: Happening quickly and with little or no warning; in a sudden manner.
Where does suddenly come from?: It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce suddenly

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “suddenly”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈsʌd.ən.li/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “suddenly”.
Repeat and practice — Say “suddenly” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.