Meaning & use
interim
Last updated
Meanings
adjectivebefore a noun
Serving for a short period until something permanent or final is ready.
Grammar: Goes before a noun: an interim report, not 'the report is interim'.
Patterns
- an interim measure
- interim leader
The board named an interim director while it searched for a new one.
The company released an interim report after six months.
An interim solution kept the website running during repairs.
nounsingularformal
The time between two events, especially in the phrase 'in the interim'.
Grammar: Almost always used as 'the interim' or 'in the interim', not with 'a'.
Patterns
- in the interim
The new office opens in March; in the interim, we will work from home.
The results come out next week, and in the interim nobody can say more.
Common combinations
- interim report
- The interim report showed the project was on budget.
- interim measure
- Rationing was only an interim measure.
- interim manager
- An interim manager took over after the resignation.
- in the interim
- In the interim, please use the side entrance.
- interim period
- During the interim period, staff covered extra duties.
Synonyms and how they differ
- temporary
- Broader and not necessarily linked to a coming permanent replacement.
- provisional
- Suggests an arrangement that may be changed after review.
- acting
- Used for a person holding a post temporarily, as in acting mayor.
- meanwhile
- An adverb for the time between, not an adjective.
Opposites
Word family
- interimly adverb
- rare; temporarily
Commonly confused: interim or interm?
interim vs interm
Not a word; the correct spelling is interim.
Practice
Which phrase best completes: 'The permanent coach starts in June, so an ___ coach will lead the team until then.'
Choose one answer.
Interim means serving temporarily until a permanent replacement arrives. 'Previous' means earlier, and the other options do not fit.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “interim”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.