interstate

American  

[in-ter-steyt, in-ter-steyt] / ˌɪn tərˈsteɪt, ˈɪn tərˌsteɪt /

adjective

1. connecting or involving different states.

   interstate commerce.

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noun

• interstates
  plural

1. a highway serving two or more states.

2. (sometimes initial capital letter) a highway that is part of the nationwide U.S. Interstate Highway System.

interstate British  

/ ˈɪntəˌsteɪt /

adjective

1. between or involving two or more of the states of the US, Australia, etc

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adverb

1. to or into another state

verb

1. a motorway crossing between states

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• noninterstate
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• interstates
  plural

Etymology

Origin of interstate

An Americanism dating back to 1835–45; inter- + state

Compare meaning

How does interstate compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• interstate vs. highway
• interstate vs. intrastate

Explanation

If something is interstate, it happens between different U.S. states. For example, you can drive on Interstate 80 from downtown San Francisco, California to Teaneck, New Jersey. Yep, that's a trip. If you're driving from Rhode Island to Illinois, you can call it interstate travel, or an interstate road trip — you're going from state to state. An interstate highway connects different states together, like I-95, which is an east coast interstate highway that stretches from Maine to Florida. For short, you can call a road like this an interstate. This 20th century word combines inter-, "between," and state.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

interstate interstates

“Most of the people that travel the interstate have been in here. I mean, back in the heyday or whatever, we counted—one day, we had 86 people,” he bragged.

From Slate ● Aug. 14, 2026

Yaroch hasn’t been charged with stealing the cryptocurrency but with interstate transfer of stolen goods.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026

FBI agent Patrick Yaroch was fired and charged with interstate transfer of stolen goods after confessing to taking a suspect’s cryptocurrency.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026

Meanwhile, advocates are pursuing lawsuits on behalf of patients whose access to interstate care is restricted.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 18, 2026

Adele received her South Carolina foster care license on my sixth birthday, but she was told it would take several more months before the interstate paperwork would allow us to travel.

From "Three Little Words: A Memoir" by Ashley Rhodes-Courter

It’s a breeze to get around, too, with access to major interstates, airports, passenger rail service, as well as water taxis and a bustling cruise ship boarding seaport.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 29, 2025

Yet the town's fortunes dwindled as river ports were replaced by trains and then interstates elsewhere.

From Salon ● Aug. 13, 2024

Americans had fins on their cars, gas in the tanks, and money in their pockets, and were raring to hit those new interstates.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 5, 2024

But as traveling by train gave way to commuter air travel and as more Americans chose to use the nation’s interstates, the numbers of people coming through Michigan Central steadily dropped.

From Seattle Times ● Jun. 3, 2024

I know I should probably hate that about interstates and yearn for the halcyon days of yore, back when you could be drenched in local color at every turn— but whatever.

From "Paper Towns" by John Green

Related Words

• artery
• avenue
• boulevard
• freeway
• parking lot
• path
• roadway
• street
• superhighway
• thoroughfare
• track
• turnpike