interrupt

verb

Simple meaning

To stop someone while they are speaking or doing something.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

ihnteruhpt

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US device voice

IPA pronunciation (US)

ɪntɚˈʌpt

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

verb

ambitransitive
To disturb or halt (an ongoing process or action, or the person performing it) by interfering suddenly, especially by speaking.
transitive
To divide; to separate; to break the monotony of.
transitivecomputing
To assert to (a computer) that an exceptional condition must be handled.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty: B1 · Intermediate (estimated)
Frequency: Moderately Common
Typical Use: Neutral / general English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: (ambitransitive) To disturb or halt (an ongoing process or action, or the person performing it) by interfering suddenly, especially by speaking.

Used this way, interrupt is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It comes across as direct, sometimes bluntly so.

Emotional tone: Neutral
Formality: Neutral
Intensity: Not strongly marked
How common: Moderately common
Connotation: Sudden and forceful
Usage feel: Blunt and forceful

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use interrupt

“We interrupt the program for the following messages.”verb
“Don't interrupt me when I'm reading.”verb

Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

interrupt handlerinterrupt serviceinterrupt vectorsoftware interrupt

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

interrupted fernnounCompound term
North American fern having tall erect pinnate fronds and a few sporogenous pinnae at or near the center of the fertile fronds.

Related words

Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.

interruptionnounRelated term
An act of delaying or interrupting the continuity.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: to disturb or halt (an ongoing process or action

break up

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Word Differences
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Learn the difference between “sorry,” “excuse me,” and “pardon me,” including when to apologize, interrupt, get someone’s attention, move past someone, or ask them to repeat themselves.

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.