abruptness

English

Etymology

abrupt + -ness

Pronunciation

  • (US) IPA(key): /əˈbɹʌp.nəs/, /əˈbɹʌpt.nəs/
  • (file)

Noun

abruptness (usually uncountable, plural abruptnesses)

  1. The state of being abrupt or broken [First attested in the early 17th century.][1]
  2. Suddenness; unceremonious haste or vehemence. [First attested in the early 17th century.][1]
    • 1853-6, Thomas Browne, To a friend intending a difficult work:
      So be neither diffuse with damp and slippery words nor blunt the edge of your discourse by abruptness of style. Study in particular the purest period of style, that those who move only to Ciceronian rhythm call you not a Celt.

Synonyms

Translations

References

  1. Lesley Brown, editor-in-chief, William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, editors (2002), “abruptness”, in The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles, 5th edition, Oxford, New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 8.
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.