cracked

American  

[krakt] / krækt /

adjective

1. broken.

   a container full of cracked ice.

2. broken without separation of parts; fissured.

3. damaged; injured.

4. Informal. eccentric; mad; daffy.

   a charming person, but a bit cracked.

5. broken in tone, as the voice.

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idioms

1. cracked up to be, reported or reputed to be (usually used in the negative).

   I hear the play is not what it's cracked up to be.

cracked British  

/ krækt /

adjective

1. damaged by cracking

2. informal crazy

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Other Word Forms

• uncracked
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of cracked

First recorded in 1400–50, cracked is from the late Middle English word crachyd. See crack, -ed ²

Example Sentences

—John Ganz is the author of “When the Clock Broke: Con Men, Conspiracists, and How America Cracked Up in the Early 1990s.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 5, 2026

In 1999, an Eastside mural, “The Wall That Cracked Open,” was almost completely covered over in flat gray, evidently by a county anti-graffiti program.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 12, 2024

"Cracked soils repel water rather than letting it soak in as wet soil would," he explained.

From BBC • Jun. 18, 2023

Cracked walls and piles of masonry point to the power of the earthquake.

From Reuters • Feb. 21, 2023

He stayed below to announce the status of dropped eggs: Cracked or Not Cracked.

From "The Science of Breakable Things" by Tae Keller

Related Words

• broken
• damaged
• fractured