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

But every time a moment of inspiration arises, she is interrupted – the children, the laundry, the meals. — John Hopewell, Variety, 19 June 2026

When treatment gets interrupted, people end up hospitalized, and each of those admissions costs a plan somewhere between $8,000 and $15,000. — Ganesh Padmanabhan, Fortune, 19 June 2026

At times, the school board turned off the microphone or interrupted speakers speaking in support of Alzubi. — Ciara McCarthy, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 2 June 2026

Noah Wyle gets interrupted during our interview when someone from his team walks in with a prosthetic leg. — Rebecca Ford, Vanity Fair, 2 June 2026

Word History

First Known Use

Adjective

circa 1552, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for interrupted

• uncorrupted
• corrupted
• disrupted
• erupted
• uninterrupted