Synonyms

disintegrate

American

[dis-in-tuh-greyt] / dɪsˈɪn təˌgreɪt /

verb (used without object)

to separate into parts or lose intactness or solidness; break up; deteriorate.

The old book is gradually disintegrating with age.
Physics.
1. to decay.
2. (of a nucleus) to change into one or more different nuclei after being bombarded by high-energy particles, as alpha particles or gamma rays.

verb (used with object)

to reduce to particles, fragments, or parts; break up or destroy the cohesion of.

Rocks are disintegrated by frost and rain.

disintegrate British

/ dɪsˈɪntɪˌɡreɪt /

verb

to break or be broken into fragments or constituent parts; shatter
to lose or cause to lose cohesion or unity
(intr) to lose judgment or control; deteriorate
physics
1. to induce or undergo nuclear fission, as by bombardment with fast particles
2. another word for decay

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Synonym Usage

See decay.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Participles

Conjugated Forms

Present

Past

Future

Etymology

Origin of disintegrate

First recorded in 1790–1800; dis- ¹ + integrate

Explanation

Soak your tooth in a cup of soda for long enough and it will disintegrate, or break apart from decay. The word disintegrate comes from a combination of the prefix dis- meaning "do the opposite of" and the Latin integrare meaning "to make whole." When something disintegrates, it does the opposite of become whole; it falls apart. Objects can either disintegrate over time — like a tooth soaking in a cup of soda, or instantaneously — like a building disintegrating into dust from an explosion.

Keep Reading on Vocabulary.com

Vocabulary lists containing disintegrate

The Lightning Thief

Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!

Fahrenheit 451

Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!

Farewell to Manzanar

Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

disintegrate disintegrates disintegrated disintegrating

When a brooding Pitt admits he’s had trouble with “family stuff,” the writer lets the sentiment disintegrate.

From Salon ● Aug. 11, 2026

“Only last month U.S. authorities said that it was illegal for countries to charge tolls on international waterways, so this threat may disintegrate when it hits reality,” said Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 13, 2026

They disintegrate, scattering their molecules to the stratospheric winds.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 11, 2026

Today's outcome is a sorry end to a nightmarish year for Salford fans, who have watched their club disintegrate to this point over the past 12 months.

From BBC ● Dec. 3, 2025

This made me nervous, because if she suddenly lost control and appeared in her fully divine form, we would disintegrate by looking at her.

From "The Titan's Curse" by Rick Riordan

But if data disintegrates, he said, he would vote in favor of a cut.

From Barron's ● Feb. 23, 2026

He adds that if we sacrifice that commitment for A.I., “you’d get to a point pretty fast where it just disintegrates and becomes the ugliest definition of the word product.”

From Slate ● Aug. 14, 2024

Lukas’ portrayal deepens as the marriage between Nick and Fanny disintegrates.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 4, 2024

When a low-voltage electrical stimulus is applied through the patch, the gold coating disintegrates, exposing the drug-loaded microneedles to the skin and initiating the controlled release of the drugs.

From Science Daily ● Jan. 18, 2024

Inside, it disintegrates and gives rise to a wormlike creature, which then develops into the new Phoenix, ready for the next five hundred years.

From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas

Given how fragile it was, it may simply have disintegrated on the shelf and been overlooked or thrown away.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 7, 2026

The numbers are far from the peaks reached in 2011, when tens of thousands arrived in just a few months as maritime border controls disintegrated during the Arab Spring revolts.

From Barron's ● Jul. 4, 2026

Then in a matter of weeks in 2011, Sokol’s prospects disintegrated after a controversy related to his personal stock trades.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 25, 2026

Among other drawbacks, she notes, “films have disintegrated because preservationists can’t digitize them.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 30, 2025

If the pack disintegrated too soon, they would be unable to launch the boats and maneuver in the jumble of broken and grinding ice, and unable to find a floe large enough to camp on.

From "Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World" by Jennifer Armstrong

They stored the item in water to keep it from disintegrating, marked down exactly where in the shipwreck it was found and placed it in a locked case.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026

The theater vanished into the green wormhole, disintegrating into a snow globe with the theater inside.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 22, 2026

So does he have the numbers and is he willing to move – particularly if it is harder for him to point to Sir Keir's authority disintegrating because there is already a challenger?

From BBC ● May 11, 2026

SpaceX confirmed with the agency that Starship was disintegrating 15 minutes after that, according to the documents.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 21, 2025

Then twelve billion gallons of water molecules crowd for that initial escape vent, and they tear and chew at the structure until house-size chunks of it tumble down its disintegrating face.

From "100 Sideways Miles" by Andrew Smith

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023