pausefuladj.
/ˈpɔːzf(ᵿ)l/, U.S. /ˈpɔzf(ə)l/, /ˈpɑzf(ə)l/ 1. Full of reflection, doubt, or hesitation. rare.
ΚΠ
a1803 T. Dermody Harp of Erin (1807) I. 67 Pauseful she heaves a sigh o'er conquest dash'd with death.
1933 P. Edgar Art of Novel xxix. 336 Older novelists used a slower clock, and there is something pauseful in the way they turn the wheels of time or stay their deliberate revolution to deal with events happening simultaneously.
2. Full of or having many pauses.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > frequency > infrequency > [adjective] > intermittent or irregular
chopping1483
wavering1488
interpolate1547
suspensive1575
off and on1583
remitting1583
intermissive1586
fluttering1590
aguisha1602
intermittent1603
irregular1608
broken1629
intermitting1643
serratile1707
serrine1707
scattering1709
serratic1753
now-and-then1762
remittent1791
fitful1810
non-periodic1836
spasmodic1837
startful1837
interlusory1853
heterochronic1854
heterochronous1854
between-whiles1859
snatchy1861
sporadic1861
spasmodical1864
catchy1869
pauseful1877
aperiodic1879
scratchy1881
nervy1884
spurty1894
off-again on-again1923
on-again off-again1946
on-off1949
1877 F. J. Furnivall Leopold Shakspere p. xcviii Professor Spalding contrasts the broken and pauseful versification of Shakspere with Fletcher's smoother end-stopt and double-ending lines.
1892 Good Words Oct. 658/2 Pauseful harmonies.
1995 Scotsman (Nexis) 9 Oct. 10 O'Hagan writes in that spare and pauseful idiom of broadsheet journalists.
3. That causes a pause. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > ceasing > temporary cessation of activity or operation > [adjective] > causing a temporary cessation
suspensivea1623
pauseful1958
1958 Times 5 May 12/5 A pauseful finger was being laid upon his life.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2005; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.a1803