interrupted

American  

[in-tuh-ruhp-tid] / ˌɪn təˈrʌp tɪd /

adjective

1. broken off or discontinuous.

   Even one night of interrupted sleep can affect your mood.

2. Botany. having an irregular or discontinuous arrangement, as of leaflets along a stem.

---

interrupted British  

/ ˌɪntəˈrʌptɪd /

adjective

1. broken, discontinued, or hindered

2. (of plant organs, esp leaves) not evenly spaced along an axis

3. Also: deceptive.  music (of a cadence) progressing from the dominant chord to any other, such as the subdominant or submediant

---

Other Word Forms

• interruptedly adverb
• noninterrupted adjective
• noninterruptedly adverb
• noninterruptedness noun
• uninterrupted adjective
• uninterruptedly adverb
• uninterruptedness noun

Etymology

Origin of interrupted

First recorded in 1550–60; interrupt + -ed ²

Example Sentences

This was after Kavanaugh, for roughly the dozenth time, interrupted an attorney or fellow justice to repeat his same points.

From Slate • Apr. 22, 2026

More recently, failures at large distributors have shown how quickly deliveries can be interrupted, even when goods are available.

From Science Daily • Apr. 5, 2026

From her velvety blue couch in an Upper West Side luxury apartment, Semple is a press-play talker, stopping mostly when interrupted.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 30, 2026

Now he’s 6-2 and healthy after a broken foot last year interrupted his first season on varsity.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 27, 2026

Danny was about to answer, but Glory interrupted by saying, “I don’t know if we should trust this.”

From "The Way to Rio Luna" by Zoraida Cordova

Related Words

• broken
• delayed
• disrupted
• postponed