hiatus

American  

[hahy-ey-tuhs] / haɪˈeɪ təs /

noun

• hiatuses,
  plural
• hiatus
  plural

1. a break or interruption in the continuity of a work, series, action, etc.

2. a missing part; gap or lacuna.

   Scholars attempted to account for the hiatus in the medieval manuscript.

3. any gap or opening.

   Synonyms:

   space, interval, break

4. Grammar, Prosody. the coming together, with or without break or slight pause, and without contraction, of two vowels in successive words or syllables, as in see easily.

5. Anatomy. a natural fissure, cleft, or foramen in a bone or other structure.

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hiatus British  

/ haɪˈeɪtəs /

noun

1. (esp in manuscripts) a break or gap where something is missing

2. a break or interruption in continuity

3. a break between adjacent vowels in the pronunciation of a word

4. anatomy a natural opening or aperture; foramen

5. anatomy a less common word for vulva

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• hiatal
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• hiatus
  plural
• hiatuses
  plural

Etymology

Origin of hiatus

First recorded in 1555–65; from Latin hiātus “opening, gap,” equivalent to hiā(re) “to gape, open” + -tus, noun suffix

Explanation

A temporary gap, pause, break, or absence can be called a hiatus. When your favorite TV show is on hiatus, that means there are no new episodes — not forever, just for a little while. Even things that go on for a long time take a break once in a while: one kind of break is a hiatus. If someone has to leave her job for a time, she's going on hiatus. A touring band will need to take a hiatus if the lead singer gets in an accident. The key thing about a hiatus is that it's an interruption of something that was happening, but it's not a permanent break.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

hiatus hiatuses

Her return as Kirby Reed in 2023’s “Scream VI” marked her first major screen role after a long acting hiatus.

From Salon ● Aug. 17, 2026

And, whatever happens during Grande's upcoming hiatus, you have to hope it's a promise that holds.

From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026

And the French pianist Michel Petrucciani, who, as a brilliant and precocious teenager in the 1980s, coaxed Mr. Lloyd out of a decade-long hiatus.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026

But with the large-cap index making a return to record territory on Tuesday after a two-month hiatus, investors might want to take those suggestions with a grain of salt.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 4, 2026

Dawn Celeste tells everyone that she’s a retired social worker and perpetual wanderer, and Luke is a college student on hiatus.

From "A Heart in a Body in the World" by Deb Caletti

These micro-retreats have proven so energizing that I now take a few each year—and science suggests such hiatuses, despite their brief duration, can renew enthusiasm and relieve mental exhaustion in potent ways.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 14, 2026

Both bands have been around since the early noughties and have had their fair share of break-ups, reunions, hiatuses and comebacks over the years.

From BBC ● Oct. 25, 2024

Like writers, actors have seen their pay decrease because of shrinking residuals, shorter TV seasons and longer hiatuses.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 3, 2023

Bands that had been waiting to release new albums until they could realistically envision touring them are now tentatively re-emerging from extended hiatuses.

From New York Times ● Sep. 17, 2021

Even the mechanical engineer comes at last to an end of his figures, and must stand up, a practical man, face to face with the discrepancies of nature and the hiatuses of theory.

From The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition Vol. 16 (of 25) by Robert Louis Stevenson

Related Words

• interval
• lapse