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

However, the political consensus on net zero has since fragmented.

From BBC

The plan was never agreed, and 17 years later settlements have spread so deep into the West Bank that Palestinians fear the map has become too fragmented for a viable state.

From BBC

Nájera said traffic is the primary threat to Southern California mountain lions, whose habitat has been fragmented and bisected by roads and highways.

From Los Angeles Times

Since 1967, the expansion of settlements has eaten away at the West Bank, breaking it up into an increasingly fragmented political and economic entity.

From BBC

They said the fact that hundreds of water utilities serve the region’s residents shows just how fragmented water provision is in California, and how that leads to disparities.

From Los Angeles Times

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.