# sudden

> English word · Adjective · IPA /ˈsʌdn̩/ · frequency rank #3,659

## Definitions
1. Occurring quickly with little or no warning or expectation; instantly.
2. Hastily prepared or employed; quick; rapid.
3. Hasty; violent; rash; precipitate.

## Etymology
From Middle English sodeyn, sodain, from Anglo-Norman sodein, from Old French sodain, subdain (“immediate, sudden”), from Vulgar Latin *subitānus (“sudden”), from Latin subitāneus (“sudden”), from subitus (“sudden", literally, "that which has come stealthily”), originally the past participle of subīre (“to come or go stealthily”), from sub (“under”) + īre (“go”). Doublet of subitaneous. Displaced native Old English fǣrlīċ.

## Easily confused with
- **suede** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sudden-vs-suede)
- **Sweden** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sudden-vs-sweden)
- **sunken** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sudden-vs-sunken)
- **sullen** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sudden-vs-sullen)
- **suddenly** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sudden-vs-suddenly)
- **Sudan** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sudan-vs-sudden)
- **sadder** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sadder-vs-sudden)
- **studded** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/studded-vs-sudden)
- **shudder** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shudder-vs-sudden)
- **scudder** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/scudder-vs-sudden)

## Common misspellings (7)
`sduden`, `ssudden`, `suddenn`, `suddne`, `sudedn`, `suden`, `usdden`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/sudden