hiatus
Americannoun
plural
hiatuses, hiatus-
a break or interruption in the continuity of a work, series, action, etc.
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a missing part; gap or lacuna.
Scholars attempted to account for the hiatus in the medieval manuscript.
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any gap or opening.
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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.
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Anatomy. a natural fissure, cleft, or foramen in a bone or other structure.
noun
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(esp in manuscripts) a break or gap where something is missing
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a break or interruption in continuity
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a break between adjacent vowels in the pronunciation of a word
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anatomy a natural opening or aperture; foramen
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anatomy a less common word for vulva
Other Word Forms
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.
Vocabulary lists containing hiatus
Dissed List: Breakup Words for Valentine's Day
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The Book Thief
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Grade 11, List 5
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The band have been making their comeback after a three-year music hiatus to complete their mandatory military service, and will be in the middle of an 85-date world tour when they perform at the final.
From BBC • May 14, 2026
Northern Ireland's power-sharing institutions were restored in February 2024 after a two-year hiatus.
From BBC • Apr. 24, 2026
Berkshire resumed its share-repurchase program on March 4 after a nearly two-year hiatus and bought over $200 million of stock that day, Barron’s calculates, based on information in the Berkshire proxy.
From Barron's • Apr. 24, 2026
President Trump, in his first term, reactivated the federal death penalty after a 17-year hiatus and put 13 inmates to death in its final months.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 24, 2026
Bessie supplied the hiatus by a homily of an hour’s length, in which she proved beyond a doubt that I was the most wicked and abandoned child ever reared under a roof.
From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
