suddenly
sud·den·ly/ˈsʌd.ən.li/adverb
suddenly is spelled S-U-D-D-E-N-L-Y: 8 letters and 3 syllables (sud·den·ly). It appears 49 times per million words in written English, the 2,072nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adverb, suddenly means “Happening quickly and with little or no warning; in a sudden manner” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in suddenly?
| Letters | 8: S-U-D-D-E-N-L-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: sud·den·ly |
| In writing | 49 times per million words; the 2,072nd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is suddenly?
Suddenly appears 49 times per million words in written English, the 2,072nd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce suddenly?
- /ˈsʌd.ən.li/
- [sʌd.n̩.li]
Suddenly has 3 syllables, split sud·den·ly in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-suddenly.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of suddenly
- more suddenly comparative
- most suddenly superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does suddenly mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adverb
- 1
Happening quickly and with little or no warning; in a sudden manner.
Suddenly, the heavens opened and we all got drenched.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Suddenly in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense happening quickly and with little or no warning:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | soudainement, tout d'un coup |
| German | plötzlich, urplötzlich (emph.), unversehens |
| Portuguese | de repente, repentinamente, subitamente |
| Spanish | repentinamente, súbitamente, subitáneamente |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does suddenly come from?
Inherited from Middle English sodenly, sodeynly, sodeinliche, sodaynlyche; equivalent to sudden + -ly.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).