hiatus

/haɪˈeɪtəs/

Very Common

A formal pause in someone's career or public activity, usually announced and open-ended.

Fans treat it as hopeful. A hiatus can turn into a comeback era, or quietly become a retirement. The word itself leaves the door open.

Real-world examples4 examples

#	Example	What it means	Source
01	the band went on hiatus in 2019 and i still refuse to accept it	The group formally stopped activity and a fan is still in denial.	x, 2023
02	taking a hiatus from posting. got some stuff to sort out	A personal break from social media with a vague reason.	instagram, 2024
03	hiatus ended. new single in two weeks	The formal break is over and new work is coming.	tiktok, 2024
04	they said hiatus but it's been 6 years. that's a retirement	The pause has lasted so long it no longer reads as temporary.	reddit, 2023

Use it when

An artist or group formally announces they are stopping for an unspecified period.
Someone steps away from work or social media with a stated reason.
You want to distinguish a temporary stop from a permanent retirement.

The person just has not posted in a while with no announcement.Use “quiet-era” instead.
They are done permanently.Use “retirement-arc” instead.

Hiatus is announced and formal.

Quiet era is unannounced and often reads as strategic.

From Latin 'hiatus' meaning gap or opening. Used in music journalism for decades before becoming everyday internet vocabulary.

Use this stable URL to reference the entry.

https://slang.fyi/hiatus

Updated: 2026-08-28License: CC BY 4.0