Interjected

Interjected is the past tense and past participle of the verb interject. To interject is to insert a remark or aside abruptly into a conversation or text, often interrupting the current speech. The act can express surprise, objection, clarification, or emphasis and is common in dialogue, debates, and narrative prose. Interject is distinct from interjections, which are a separate part of speech consisting of short exclamations such as oh, wow, or alas.

The word originates from Latin interiectus, from inter- “between” and iacere “to throw,” meaning to throw a remark between other elements in discourse. It entered English through historical usage that mirrored the sense of inserting something into what was being said.

As a transitive verb, interject takes a remark as its object: for example, “The moderator interjected with a question.” In fiction or memoir, a character may interject a comment mid-scene, such as, “We can discuss that later,” she interjected, glancing at the clock. In analysis or editing, the term can describe a side remark inserted into a text or dialogue.

Interjecting is related to interjections (the exclamatory words themselves) and to terms like interpolation or parenthetical insertion, which describe different ways of inserting material into discourse. The distinction is that interject refers to an act by a speaker; an interjection is a standalone utterance; interpolation refers more broadly to inserted material in writing.