interject

Meanings

1. To say something suddenly, interrupting someone who is speaking.
2. To insert something between other things.

Example sentences

• "She interjected a quick question during the lecture."

  Level C1, Meaning 1

• "Let me interject for a moment to correct the date."

  Level C1, Meaning 1

• "He kept interjecting jokes into the serious talk."

  Level C1, Meaning 1

• "The lawyer interjected, but the judge raised a hand."

  Level C1, Meaning 1

Synonyms and antonyms

Look-alikes and common mistakes

• interrupt : Interrupt means to stop someone from speaking or working. Interject often adds a remark without stopping the speaker for long.
• inject : Inject means to put a liquid into something, or to add a quality such as energy. Interject means to put words in.
• interpose : Interpose means to place something between, or to step in. It is more formal than interject.
• interjection : An interjection is the remark that you interject, or a short word such as ouch.

Word family and forms

Forms: interjects, interjected, interjecting

Word partners

Words and phrases that often go with "interject".

• interject a comment
• interject a question
• interject with a joke
• interject humor
• interject an opinion
• he interjected
• interject a note

Origin

Interject comes from the Latin word interiectus, the past participle of intericere, meaning to throw between. The Latin word joins inter, meaning between, with a form of iacere, meaning to throw. English has used the verb since the 1500s.

Checked against: Wiktionary, the free dictionary, Dictionary.com.

Usage notes

Often used with a direct quotation to show someone breaking into a conversation, as in the example.

How to remember it

Inter means between and ject means throw. To interject is to throw a remark in between someone else's words.

Test yourself

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