Back when the debate was raging over whether or not to hold the 2020 Tokyo Olympics due to 新型コロナウイルスの感染拡大 (shingata koronauirusu no kansen kakudai, the spread of infection from the novel coronavirus), the words 延期 (enki, postponement) and 中止 (chūshi, cancellation) were heard so often that I think they now qualify as JLPT N5 vocab.

Though the authorities insisted, "中止はありえない" ("Chūshi wa arienai," "Cancellation is out of the question"), many feared the show would not go on. In the space of a few days, the rhetoric changed. The word "ありえない" (arienai, impossible) was swapped out for the milder "避けたい" (saketai, would like to avoid), and after backstage maneuvering, 延期に落ち着いた (enki ni ochitsuita, [they] settled on postponement).

I feel like this was 中止's breakout moment. 中止, 延期 and 休止 (kyūshi, cessation or pause) were being bandied about Japanese conversation as both 大規模なイベント (daikibona ibento, large-scale events) and 小規模なイベント (shōkibona ibento, small-scale events) such as 卒業式 (sotsugyōshiki, graduation ceremonies), 入学式 (nyūgakushiki, commencement ceremonies) and 入社式 (nyūshashiki, company initiation ceremonies) were stricken from March and April calendars.