interlude

noun

in·​ter·​lude ˈin-tər-ˌlüd 

1

: an intervening or interruptive period, space, or event : interval

2

: a musical composition inserted between the parts of a longer composition, a drama, or a religious service

3

: a usually short simple play or dramatic entertainment

Synonyms

• discontinuity
• gap
• hiatus
• hiccup
• hiccough
• interim
• intermission
• interregnum
• interruption
• interstice
• interval
• parenthesis

Examples of interlude in a Sentence

She left for a brief interlude.

He has resumed his acting career after a two-year interlude.

They always met in the city for their romantic interludes.

a drama with musical interludes

Recent Examples on the Web

As in his innovative Mussolini biopic Vincere (2010), Bellocchio makes Edgardo’s story buckle and unfurl, matching the youth’s psychological bewilderment to our amazement — blazing red intertitles and quasi-documentary interludes shake up our emotional involvement via aesthetic detachment. —Armond White, National Review, 31 May 2024

Lady Gaga's Chromatica team reveals the history and future of her new era Cut to the stark interlude that shows her on a cold operating table, nodules attached to her head, splayed out for the world to see, like a medical patient wasting away in plain sight. —EW.com, 26 May 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English enterlude, from Medieval Latin interludium, from Latin inter- + ludus play — more at ludicrous

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 3

Kids Definition

interlude

noun

in·​ter·​lude ˈint-ər-ˌlüd 

1

: a performance between the acts of a play

2

: an intervening period, space, or event : interval

3

: a musical composition inserted between the parts of a longer one, a drama, or a religious service