interim
in·ter·im/ˈɪntəɹɪm/adjective, noun
interim is spelled I-N-T-E-R-I-M, 3 syllables: in·ter·im. The wrong spelling people search most is interm: about 680 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 12 of all searches for the word. Interim is an adjective meaning “transitional”.
How many letters and syllables are in interim?
| Letters | 7: I-N-T-E-R-I-M |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: in·ter·im |
| In writing | 10 times per million words; the 7,121st most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 2; the most searched, interm, about 680 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How do you spell interim?
Interim is spelled I-N-T-E-R-I-M. 2 wrong spellings are searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 12 of the searches for interim in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is interim?
Interim appears 10 times per million words in written English, the 7,121st most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce interim?
- /ˈɪntəɹɪm/
Interim has 3 syllables, split in·ter·im in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-interim.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of interim
- interims plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does interim mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
transitional
Iraq's government is interim.
- 2
temporary
You are interim manager until he returns from hospital.
noun
- 1
A transitional or temporary period between other events.
His car is in the shop, but they gave him a rental to drive in the interim.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Interim in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | übergangsweise, interimistisch , zwischenzeitlich , Übergangszeit, Zwischenzeit, Interim |
| Spanish | interino, ad ínterim , ínterin, interín, ínterim |
| French | intervalle, intérim |
| Portuguese | intervalo, ínterim |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does interim come from?
Borrowed from Latin interim (“meanwhile”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).