✅ Abruptly refers to something happening in a sudden or unexpected way (The rain stopped abruptly).

✅ Precipitously refers to something that rises or falls in a sudden, unexpected, and extreme way, akin to a steep rock face or precipice (Sales fell precipitously).

✅ Abruptly can refer to anything that happens suddenly (The car stopped abruptly), whereas precipitously often refers to the number of a given thing rising or falling dramatically: imagine a sudden steep drop in a line on a graph (During the pandemic, the inventory of cars dropped precipitously).

✅ Precipitously also suggests an element of danger or a lack of control (The mountain rose precipitously in front of them).

We think that your vocabulary will increase precipitously if you make a habit of checking out our synonyms!

✅ Effect refers to the result or the consequences of something (Staying up late had the effect of making me tired).

✅ Outcome refers to the final result of something (The outcome of the argument was that he no longer wanted to come with us).

✅ Effect generally suggests a direct and immediate result or consequence (Sugar has the effect of increasing your energy).

✅ Outcome often suggests a final result that may not be immediately obvious (The outcome of reducing the store’s hours was that we lost money).

Write about an unexpected outcome with the help of Grammar Coach.

✅ Cause refers to the motive or reason for a certain action, or the reason why something happens (He was the cause of all my anxiety).

✅ Motivation refers to the thing that provides a reason to act, or the reason for something to happen (The knowledge that the course was almost over was my motivation to work).

✅ Cause generally refers to a direct relationship between the reason for an action and the action itself (The weather was the cause of my bad mood).

✅ Motivation generally refers to an internal or personal factor that encourages you to do something, often something positive (The bad weather was their motivation to finish the chores).

We hope we’ve given you the motivation to check out these synonyms!