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Oct 16, 2026
This week’s theme
Words that look like misspellings

This week’s words
venust
calender
wheal
exute
irrupt

irrupt
Prise de la Bastille, 1789
Art: Jean-Pierre Houël

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irrupt

PRONUNCIATION:
(i-RUHPT) Listen to pronunciation

MEANING:
verb intr.:
1. To burst or break in.
2. (Of a population) To increase suddenly in number.

ETYMOLOGY:
From Latin irrumpere, from in- (into) + rumpere (to break). Earliest documented use: 1855.

NOTES:
Originally, to irrupt was to burst in; to erupt was to burst out. Since then, irrupt has broken into erupt’s territory.

USAGE:
“The odd stories of Yoko Ogawa, a Japanese author, irrupt into the ordinary world as if from the unconscious or the grave.”
Slightly Off; The Economist (London, UK); Jan 26, 2013.

See more usage examples of irrupt in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
The sick do not ask if the hand that smooths their pillow is pure, nor the dying care if the lips that touch their brow have known the kiss of sin. -Oscar Wilde, writer (16 Oct 1854-1900)

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