interim

American  

[in-ter-uhm] / ˈɪn tər əm /

noun

1. an intervening time; interval; meantime.

   School doesn't start till September, but he's taking a Spanish class in the interim.

2. a temporary or provisional arrangement; stopgap; makeshift.

   As an interim, her summer job was pretty good.

3. Church History. Interim, any of three provisional arrangements for the settlement of religious differences between German Protestants and Roman Catholics during the Reformation.

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adjective

1. for, during, belonging to, or connected with an intervening period of time; temporary; provisional.

   This is just an interim arrangement till office renovations are finished.

   She is the organization’s interim director while the board reviews applications for the role.

adverb

1. meanwhile.

interim ¹ British  

/ ˈɪntərɪm /

adjective

1. (prenominal) temporary, provisional, or intervening

   interim measures to deal with the emergency

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noun

1. the intervening time; the meantime (esp in the phrase in the interim )

adverb

1. rare meantime

Interim ² British  

/ ˈɪntərɪm /

noun

1. any of three provisional arrangements made during the Reformation by the German emperor and Diet to regulate religious differences between Roman Catholics and Protestants

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interim Idioms  

1. see in the interim.

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Etymology

Origin of interim

First recorded in 1540–50; from Latin: “in the meantime,” from inter “between” + -im, adverb suffix

Explanation

An interim is a period of time between one event and another. If a teacher leaves mid-year, there might be an interim teacher, one who takes over the class until a permanent replacement is hired. Interim is a Latin adverb meaning "in the meantime." The first part, inter means "between." Interim is the time between, and you can use it as a fancy way of referring to a time you squeeze something in. Maybe you get ice cream during the interim between school and piano lessons. This word is often used in official contexts — for example, after the CEO of a company steps down, an interim CEO might serve while a formal job search is conducted.

Example Sentences

In the interim, more than a billion people have been lifted out of extreme poverty.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 15, 2026

Ponce was evicted from a Boyle Heights tiny home village run by Volunteers of America Los Angeles, which has 1,300 interim beds across 14 sites in the county.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 14, 2026

Lucid named Silvio Napoli as its next chief executive, succeeding interim CEO Marc Winterhoff, who held the role since February 2025.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 14, 2026

Marie-Louise Eta has become the first woman appointed to manage a men's team in one of Europe's top five leagues after being named interim head coach of Bundesliga side Union Berlin.

From BBC • Apr. 12, 2026

With Ed Lim’s help, Bebe had formally filed papers and had been granted visitation rights in the interim, once per week for two hours.

From "Little Fires Everywhere" by Celeste Ng

Related Words

• provisional