Synonyms for abrupt

modified

1. Said of things, usually landscape

   steep, precipitate, sheer, precipitous, sudden, sharp, angular, craggy, unexpected, uneven, rough, rugged, irregular, jagged, perpendicular, straight up, straight down, without a break, vertical, headlong, zigzag, broken, uphill, downhill, falling, bluffy.

   Antonyms level*, flat, horizontal.

2. Said of people or acts of people

   rough, blunt, short, terse, brusque, unceremonious, sudden, hasty, hurried, precipitate, impetuous, uncivil, gruff, impolite, curt, bluff, ungracious, rude, crude, uncomplaisant, downright, outspoken, direct, unexpected, to the point, matter-of-fact, discourteous, sharp, snippy*; see also blunt 2.

   Antonyms polite*, ceremonious, gracious.

abrupt implies a sharp degree of inclination in a surface breaking off suddenly from the level an abrupt bank at the river's edge; steep suggests such sharpness of rise or slope as to make ascent or descent very difficult a steep hill; precipitous suggests the sudden and headlong drop of a precipice a precipitous height; sheer applies to that which is perpendicular, or almost so, and unbroken throughout its length cliffs falling sheer to the sea, a sheer drop from the sixth floor See also syn. study at sudden.