hiatus

noun

hi·​a·​tus hī-ˈā-təs 

1

a

: a break in or as if in a material object : gap

the weedy hiatus between the town and the railroad

—Willa Cather

the hiatus between the theory and the practice of the party

—J. G. Colton

b

biology : a gap or passage in an anatomical part or organ

2

a

: an interruption in time or continuity : break

especially : a period when something (such as a program or activity) is suspended or interrupted

after a 5-year hiatus from writing

a summer hiatus

b

: the occurrence of two vowel sounds without pause or intervening consonantal sound

Did you know?

This brief hiatus in your day is brought to you by, well, hiatus. While the word now most often refers to a temporary pause, hiatus originally referred to a physical opening in something, such as the mouth of a cave, or, as the 18th century British novelist Laurence Sterne would have it, a sartorial gap: in the wildly experimental novel Tristram Shandy, Sterne wrote of “the hiatus in Phutatorius’s breeches.” Hiatus comes from the Latin verb hiare, meaning “to open wide,” which makes it a distant relation of both yawn and chasm. And that’s all we have for now—you may resume your regular activities.

Synonyms

• breach
• break
• discontinuity
• gap
• gulf
• hole
• interstice
• interval
• opening
• rent
• rift
• separation
• void

Examples of hiatus in a Sentence

The band is making an album again after a five-year hiatus.

steam was rising from a hiatus in the ground

Recent Examples on the Web

The sweeping policy legislation that Republicans are pushing through Congress is poised to reignite international tax and trade wars that have been on hiatus as policymakers around the world grappled with how to overhaul the global tax system. —Alan Rappeport, New York Times, 21 May 2025

Plans to build the tallest tower in sub-Saharan Africa in Ethiopia have been reignited after a yearlong hiatus. —Theo Burman, MSNBC Newsweek, 21 May 2025

After a Season 14 hiatus, the German model returned to the NBC show for Seasons 15 through 19. —Natalie Neysa Alund, USA Today, 21 May 2025

Her crypto controversy began the very next day, resulting in a show hiatus. —Skyler Caruso, People.com, 20 May 2025

Word History

Etymology

Latin, from hiare to yawn — more at yawn

First Known Use

1563, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Phrases Containing hiatus

• go on hiatus
• put on hiatus

Rhymes for hiatus

• comitatus

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Kids Definition

hiatus

noun

hi·​a·​tus hī-ˈāt-əs 

plural hiatuses

: a gap in space or time

especially : a break where a part is missing

Medical Definition

hiatus

noun

hi·​a·​tus hī-ˈāt-əs 

: a gap or passage through an anatomical part or organ

especially : an opening through which another part or organ passes (such as the opening in the diaphragm through which the esophagus and vagus nerves pass)