interruptive

The student's interruptive question broke the flow of the lecture.

Definition

Adjective: Describing something that causes a break or disruption in a continuous process, activity, or conversation. It characterizes actions, events, or elements that interfere with the flow or continuity of something.

Usage Examples

• (The noise caused a disruption in concentration.)
• (Her comments broke the flow of the discussion.)
• (The ads disrupted the user's continuous activity.)

Advanced Usage

• "Interruptive behavior": Actions that repeatedly break the flow of a social interaction or group activity, often considered rude or disruptive.
  • The teacher asked the student to stop his interruptive behavior during the lecture. (The student's actions repeatedly broke the flow of the lesson.)
• "Interruptive technology": Technology that frequently demands attention or pauses ongoing work, such as notifications or alerts.
  • Many workers find constant email notifications to be interruptive and counterproductive. (The notifications disrupt their workflow.)

Variants and Related Words

• Interruptive (adj): as defined above.
• Interrupt (verb): to break the continuity of something.
  • Please do not interrupt me while I am speaking. (Do not break the flow of my speech.)
• Interruption (noun): an act or instance of breaking continuity.
  • There was a brief interruption in the power supply. (A temporary break in electrical flow.)
• Interruptory (adj): an alternative form meaning the same as interruptive.
  • His interruptory remarks were not welcome in the formal debate. (His remarks broke the flow of the debate.)

Synonyms

• Disruptive: causing or tending to cause disorder or interruption.
  • The disruptive child kept shouting out answers. (The child interrupted the class repeatedly.)
• Intrusive: causing disruption or annoyance by being unwelcome or uninvited.
  • The intrusive phone calls interrupted her dinner. (The calls broke the peace of her meal.)
• Interfering: tending to meddle or disrupt.
  • His interfering questions derailed the presentation. (His questions broke the presentation's flow.)

Related Idioms

• "To throw a spanner in the works": to cause a problem or interruption that prevents something from happening smoothly.
  • The sudden rainstorm threw a spanner in the works for our outdoor picnic. (The rain disrupted the planned event.)
• "To cut someone off": to interrupt someone while they are speaking.
  • She cut him off mid-sentence with an interruptive question. (She broke his speech with a question.)