fragmented

[frag-muhn-tid, -men-, frag-men-]

adjective

1. reduced to fragments.

2. existing or functioning as though broken into separate parts; disorganized; disunified.

   a fragmented personality; a fragmented society.

Other Word Forms

• nonfragmented adjective
• overfragmented adjective
• unfragmented adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of fragmented¹

First recorded in 1810–20; fragment + -ed ³

Example Sentences

Given how large the market is, and how fragmented it is across different revenue streams, especially mortgage, there can be room for multiple winners here.

Read more on Barron's

My experience hints at the usefulness AI may someday have in finding a way out of our expensive, fragmented and ineffective approach to human health.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The fragmented nature of demand means that ASM’s orders can be lumpy as they are determined by how much chip makers are willing to invest on semiconductor-making equipment each quarter.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

“It’s so fragmented now and there’s that emotional side of things; of wanting to turn inward and be comforted.”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

An international team of researchers from the University of Sydney and the Universidad Europea in Spain discovered that sustained walking sessions offer stronger protection for heart health than fragmented activity.

Read more on Science Daily

Related Words

• busted 
• collapsed www.thesaurus.com
• cracked 
• crumbled www.thesaurus.com
• crushed www.thesaurus.com
• damaged www.thesaurus.com
• defective 
• demolished www.thesaurus.com
• destroyed www.thesaurus.com
• fractured www.thesaurus.com
• injured www.thesaurus.com
• mangled www.thesaurus.com
• mutilated www.thesaurus.com
• ruptured www.thesaurus.com
• severed 
• shattered 
• smashed 
• splintered www.thesaurus.com

When To Use

What does fragmented mean?

Fragmented is an adjective that describes things that have been reduced or divided into fragments—pieces that have been broken off of or detached from the whole.Fragment most commonly refers to a part that has broken off rather than one that has been separated gently or intentionally, like fragments of a broken vase or a broken bone. Such things can be described as fragmented.As a verb, fragment can mean to break into pieces or disintegrate, as in The empire fragmented into multiple states after the emperor’s death. Such an empire could be described as fragmented.Fragmented is perhaps most often applied to abstract or intangible things like this, in which case it usually means disorganized or disunified in some way. For example, a fragmented society is one in which there is an extreme lack of unity among different groups. This sense of the word often implies that the thing described as fragmented is broken or unhealthy in some way.The verb fragmentize can mean the same thing as the verb sense of fragment, and the adjective fragmentized is a synonym of fragmented.The related adjective fragmentary means something different: consisting of or reduced to fragments—disconnected or incomplete, as in fragmentary evidence.Example: My attention becomes fragmented when I’m working on too many projects.