Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

hiatus

/haɪˈeɪtəs/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: 3.49 in modern English

Syllables: hia-tus
IPA: /haɪˈeɪtəs/

9

Scrabble Score

6

Letters

3

Syllables

6

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A gap in a series, making it incomplete.

Countable; Uncountable

noun

An interruption, break, pause or absence.

Countable; Uncountable

noun

An temporary break from work, especially one which is unexpected.

Countable; Uncountable

noun

A gap in geological strata.

Countable; Uncountable

noun

An opening in an organ.

Countable; Uncountable

noun

A syllable break between two vowels, without an intervening consonant.

Uncountable

Example Sentences

"Even the mechanical engineer comes at last to an end of his figures, and must stand up, a practical man, face to face with the discrepancies of nature and the hiatuses of theory."
"The band decided to go on hiatus, citing creative differences."
"It is wonderful that you should have slipped back into your American life so easily after your English hiatus."
"After a ten-year dividend hiatus, shareholder payments only re-started in July 2022."
"In 2017, he wanted to take a brief hiatus from formal studies to pursue his passion for life in the mountains. Ryan and his best friend, James drove to British Columbia to live out a winter season of snowboarding with the full support of their parents."
"The beginning of the Mesozoic Era on the Colorado Plateau is marked by a regional hiatus or break of sedimentary deposition that lasted about 25 to 30 Ma."

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin hiātus (“opening”) (mid-16th century), from hiō (“stand open, yawn”).

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /haɪˈeɪtəs/

Usage

Inflected Forms

hiatuses (plural) hiati (nonstandard, plural)

Derived Forms

hiatal hiatic hiatused prehiatus

Phrases

adductor hiatus hiatus hernia hiatus magnus

Synonyms

break breather moratorium recess cessation demurral gap caesura hiatus halt halting interregnum

Rhymes With

comitatus status apparatus stratus cincinnatus meatus quadratus latus flatus nimbostratus afflatus altostratus

Questions

How do you pronounce hiatus?: The recorded pronunciation is /haɪˈeɪtəs/.
What does hiatus mean?: A gap in a series, making it incomplete.
Where does hiatus come from?: Learned borrowing from Latin hiātus (“opening”) (mid-16th century), from hiō (“stand open, yawn”).

How to pronounce hiatus

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “hiatus”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/haɪˈeɪtəs/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “hiatus”.
Repeat and practice — Say “hiatus” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.