interrupted

1 of 2

adjective

in·​ter·​rupt·​ed ˌin-tə-ˈrəp-təd 

1

: broken in upon : discontinuous

an interrupted stripe

interrupted service

an interrupted phone call

interrupted sleep

2

botany : not uniform : broken in arrangement or symmetry

… flowers whorled in interrupted clusters.

—Charles E. Turner

3

phonetics : consisting of or containing a stop in articulation

\k\ is an interrupted consonant

interruptedly adverb

… Jeanne's mother had been … schoolmate and good girlfriend to Maria Gostrey, who had moreover enjoyed since then, though interruptedly … , other glimpses of her.

—Henry James

interruptedness noun

"I am much obliged to you for giving me full notice," he said, with a firm intention in his tone, yet with an interruptedness in his delivery which showed that he spoke unwillingly.

—George Eliot

interrupted

2 of 2

past tense and past participle of interrupt entry 1

Examples of interrupted in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Adjective

Congress should fund that capacity and require clear schedules for resolving interrupted awards and disbursing recovery support. — Carole Labonne, Washington Post, 8 Nov. 2026

Rail traffic was interrupted and replacement transportation arranged for passengers. — ABC News, 28 Oct. 2026

Keep mums away from porch lights and street lights because interrupted darkness can hinder blooming. — Sarah Everett, The Spruce, 27 Oct. 2026

The JieLi chip powering the FM-1 keeps firmware in a single flash bank, so an interrupted update can leave the device in a difficult-to-recover state. — ArsTechnica, 26 Oct. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

Adjective

circa 1552, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for interrupted

• uncorrupted
• corrupted
• disrupted
• erupted
• uninterrupted