interruption
noun
Simple meaning
A time interval during which there is a temporary cessation of something.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
ihnteruhpshuhnSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ɪntɚˈʌpʃən
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.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
An act of delaying or interrupting the continuity
The act of interrupting, or the state of being interrupted.
A time interval during which there is a temporary cessation of something
linguistics
The act of breaking into someone else's speech.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate (estimated)
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: An act of delaying or interrupting the continuity
Used this way, interruption is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use interruption
- “The telephone is an annoying interruption.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Insurance that provides protection for the loss of profits and continuing fixed expenses resulting from a break in commercial activities due to the occurrence of a peril.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: delaying or interrupting the continuity
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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.