Sud·den a.
  1. Happening without previous notice or with very brief notice; coming unexpectedly, or without the common preparation; immediate; instant; speedy. “O sudden wo!” --Chaucer. “For fear of sudden death.” --Shak.
     Sudden fear troubleth thee.   --Job xxii. 10.
  2. Hastly prepared or employed; quick; rapid.
     Never was such a sudden scholar made.   --Shak.
     The apples of Asphaltis, appearing goodly to the sudden eye.   --Milton.
  3. Hasty; violent; rash; precipitate. [Obs.]
  Syn: -- Unexpected; unusual; abrupt; unlooked-for.
  -- Sud*den*ly, adv. -- Sud*den*ness, n.
  suddenly
       adv 1: happening unexpectedly; "suddenly she felt a sharp pain in
              her side" [syn: all of a sudden, of a sudden]
       2: quickly and without warning; "he stopped suddenly" [syn: abruptly,
           short, dead]
       3: on impulse; without premeditation; "he decided to go to
          Chicago on the spur of the moment"; "he made up his mind
          suddenly" [syn: on the spur of the moment]