intersperse
Americanverb (used with object)
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intersperses,
present (3rd person singular)
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interspersed,
past participle, past
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interspersing
present participle
verb
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to scatter or distribute among, between, or on
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to diversify (something) with other things scattered here and there
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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interspersesimple
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interspersessimple
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have interspersedperfect
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has interspersedperfect
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am interspersingprogressive
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are interspersingprogressive
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is interspersingprogressive
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have been interspersingperfect progressive
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has been interspersingperfect progressive
Past
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interspersedsimple
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had interspersedperfect
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was interspersingprogressive
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were interspersingprogressive
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had been interspersingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of intersperse
1560–70; < Latin interspersus (past participle of interspergere to strew here and there), equivalent to inter- inter- + -spersus, combining form of sparsus, past participle of spargere to scatter; see disperse
Explanation
When you intersperse something, you scatter it with spaces in between, the way you intersperse vegetable seeds along a row in a garden bed. A wallpaper pattern might intersperse polka dots with bright flowers, and a writer might intersperse colorful details throughout an essay on the sword fishing industry. If you place things here and there, at intervals or leaving room between each item, you intersperse them. The Latin root is interspersus, "strewn or scattered," and in the mid-1500s the word intersperse was used mostly to mean "diversify by introducing things at intervals."
Vocabulary lists containing intersperse
"The Veldt" by Ray Bradbury
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The Hunger Games
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This Week in Pop Culture: April 6–12, 2019
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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.
See Examples For:
While Hartman believes it’s best to intersperse the music between races, it’s not the only way to do things.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 27, 2024
You can intersperse more prolonged bouts with quick bursts, whether downsizing clothing or a tool drawer.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 21, 2023
In the fall of 2023, the museum will intersperse about a dozen of Hendricks’s portraits among its own holdings in an exhibition at its temporary home, Frick Madison.
From New York Times ● Jul. 13, 2022
The app takes bits from Anchor and bits from Clubhouse — users can host DJ sets, like they would a radio show, and intersperse songs with talk.
From The Verge ● Oct. 26, 2021
Monomaniacs intersperse their writings with illustrations and symbols.
From Criminal Man According to the Classification of Cesare Lombroso by Gina Lombroso
In the book, subtitled “Love, Loss, and a Really Long Walk,” the author intersperses dispatches from her trip with harrowing personal reflections on marriage, motherhood and the self.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 23, 2026
Egoyan intersperses scenes set in the present with home video footage of Jeanine as a child, shot by her own father, blindfolded and doing strange dances in the woods.
From Salon ● Mar. 12, 2025
Patel also intersperses blink-and-you’ll-miss-them POV shots, further aligning us with the Kid’s experience and adding to the dizzying, hallucinatory effect of some of these fights.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 4, 2024
A vast number of caves and rock shelters intersperses the mountains.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 6, 2024
A Child of Our Time intersperses quasi-operatic narrative passages with arrangements of African-American spirituals, as Bach had done with Lutheran hymn-chorales in his oratorios on the passion and crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall
The production is marked by a rare fluidity and ease, while at the same time bristling with energy and bright humor interspersed with moments of arresting, rich feeling.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
The recipes are interspersed with stories from Kwon’s childhood in the store and illustrated spreads devoted to ingredients such as seaweed and tofu, explaining their varieties, particular virtues and best uses.
From Salon ● Jul. 23, 2026
The walkways will be interspersed with plazas, small parks and exercise stations.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 12, 2026
These passages are interspersed with photos of bright sun, yellow sand, blue water and vibrantly colored foods.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 17, 2026
Amarante Cordova was already talking to the approximately seventy-five people present, most of them either middle-aged or quite old men, interspersed by a few women, and maybe a dozen kids.
From "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols
With a growing online fanbase, he started interspersing TikTok cover versions with snippets of originals.
From BBC ● Jan. 6, 2025
Sister Sylvester led the audience through a communal reading of her intricately designed, handmade books while El Shazly performed her score live, interspersing moody electronics and vintage Egyptian recordings with her own, smoky-hued singing.
From New York Times ● May 4, 2023
As the movie travels through the mid-’90s into the early 2000s, Rockwell chronicles a rapidly changing New York during the Rudy Giuliani and Mike Bloomberg mayorships, accented by interspersing real audio clips and speeches.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 10, 2023
And so it was that Forestier restored the park, interspersing bulb-planted lawns with prized horticultural collections, including peonies, irises and waterlilies, along with the classic rose garden.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 17, 2022
The Hutchinsons of worldwide fame were present in their happiest vein, interspersing the speeches with appropriate songs and felicitous remarks.
From Eighty Years and More; Reminiscences 1815-1897 by Elizabeth Cady Stanton
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.
