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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Sudden \Sud"den\, adjective [OE. sodian, sodein, OF. sodain, sudain, F. soudain, L. subitaneus, fr. subitus sudden, that has come unexpectedly, p. p. of subire to come on, to steal upon; sub under, secretly + ire to go. See {Issue}, and cf. {Subitaneous}.]
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.] --Shak.
Syn: Unexpected; unusual; abrupt; unlooked-for. -- {Sud"den*ly}, adverb -- {Sud"den*ness}, n.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
suddenly
adverb
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}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
58 Moby Thesaurus words for "suddenly": a corps perdu, aback, abruptly, all at once, bang, by surprise, dash, feverishly, fleetingly, forthwith, hastily, head over heels, headfirst, headforemost, headlong, heels over head, hurriedly, impetuously, implausibly, improbably, impulsively, in a trice, instantaneously, instantly, like a flash, like a thunderbolt, momentarily, of a sudden, on short notice, plop, plump, plunk, pop, precipitantly, precipitately, precipitously, quickly, rapidly, rashly, recklessly, sharp, short, slap, slap-bang, smack, speedily, startlingly, sudden, surprisingly, swiftly, unanticipatedly, unaware, unawares, unexpectedly, unforeseeably, unpredictably, without notice, without warning
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