de pronto

Spanish

Etymology

From de and pronto.

Adverb

de pronto

1. suddenly, all of a sudden, unexpectedly

   Synonyms: súbitamente, de repente

   • 2015 July 30, “‘El share y la separata’ (4): ‘Sentirse una cucaracha’”, in El País‎^[1]:

     De pronto, cesa la barahúnda y hasta la figuración enmudece.

     Suddenly, the uproar stops and even the extras fall silent.

2. (Colombia, idiomatic) maybe, perhaps

   Synonyms: quizá, quizás, a lo mejor, tal vez

Further reading

• “de pronto”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10