shatter
Americanverb (used with object)
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shatters,
present (3rd person singular)
-
shattered,
past participle, past
-
shattering
present participle
-
to break (something) into pieces, as by a blow.
-
to damage, as by breaking or crushing.
ships shattered by storms.
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to impair or destroy (health, nerves, etc.).
The incident shattered his composure.
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to weaken, destroy, or refute (ideas, opinions, etc.).
He wanted to shatter her illusions.
verb (used without object)
-
shatters,
present (3rd person singular)
-
shattered,
past participle, past
-
shattering
present participle
noun
verb
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to break or be broken into many small pieces
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(tr) to impair or destroy
his nerves were shattered by the torture
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(tr) to dumbfound or thoroughly upset
she was shattered by the news
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informal (tr) to cause to be tired out or exhausted
-
an obsolete word for scatter
noun
Synonym Usage
See break.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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nonshatternoun
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shatterernoun
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nonshatteringadjective
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shatteringadjective
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unshatteredadjective
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shatteringlyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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shattersimple
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shatterssimple
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have shatteredperfect
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has shatteredperfect
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am shatteringprogressive
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are shatteringprogressive
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is shatteringprogressive
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have been shatteringperfect progressive
-
has been shatteringperfect progressive
Past
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shatteredsimple
-
had shatteredperfect
-
was shatteringprogressive
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were shatteringprogressive
-
had been shatteringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of shatter
1300–50; Middle English schateren < ?; cf. scatter
Explanation
When you shatter something, you smash it or break it into small bits. If your sister hits a baseball directly into the kitchen window, the window will shatter — and your sister will be in big trouble. When you drop something fragile, it will probably shatter—lightbulbs, teacups, mirrors, and windows all shatter fairly easily. Things can also shatter in a less literal way, when it just feels like they're breaking apart violently. If your best friend ignores you all day, your heart shatters; and if you stumble and fall on your way up to a podium to give a speech, your confidence may shatter.
Vocabulary lists containing shatter
Lesson 11
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Towers Falling
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Blasted to Smithereens: Synonyms for "Break"
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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:
An explosive surge of energy as the opening synth riffs of Fantastic Baby shatter the stadium air.
From BBC ● Sep. 27, 2026
Researchers discovered shatter cones in numerous rock outcrops.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 22, 2026
The force of the explosion was strong enough to shatter some of the first- and second-floor windows of a nearby apartment building.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026
After 50, it can completely shatter your finances.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 22, 2026
For a second, Sierra thought her mom might shatter into a million pieces right then and there.
From "Shadowshaper" by Daniel José Older
Elliot Anderson will now become the most expensive British player in history as the midfielder's impending £116m move to Manchester City from Nottingham Forest shatters previous marks.
From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2026
After a fall shatters his ankle, his stepchildren dump him with his daughter.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 30, 2026
Cool and tangy yogurt, fruit that tastes unmistakably like itself, crunch that shatters and then yields.
From Salon ● Mar. 17, 2026
But gone too is a sense that we understand each other’s pasts, and Nicole’s understanding of Birdie shatters into a mess of devotion and anger.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 26, 2026
The look in Jonah’s eyes belie it though, and it shatters me a little more, knowing that in choosing to put myself first, I’ve cemented Jonah’s inability to do the same.
From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam
Speaking at a news conference on Monday, Eden's mother said her heart was "shattered".
From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2026
Here was a modern soccer juggernaut that crushed opponents on the pitch and in the boardroom, leaving behind a trail of shattered records.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026
Earlier geological surveys had interpreted the local breccia rocks as evidence of a funnel-shaped volcanic structure called a diatreme, which forms when explosive magma eruptions create a pipe filled with shattered rock.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 22, 2026
On “Neptuno,” his heart is shattered after a relationship didn’t work out; while on the title track, he details an evergreen love in which a couple keeps finding their way back to each other.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 21, 2026
One time this caused her to bobble the vial, and she had to snatch it in midair before it hit the second-floor landing and shattered.
From "City Spies" by James Ponti
And Oxnard hit 99 degrees on Sunday, shattering the daily record of 94 degrees set in 2023.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 5, 2026
It was one of the hardest, lowest, most shattering moments of my life.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026
Both apps allowed wagers on the number of “explosive diarrhea” cyclosporiasis and measles cases this year, with both outbreaks shattering records.
From Salon ● Aug. 12, 2026
This blockbuster class of drugs is shattering all sales records.
From Barron's ● Jul. 31, 2026
But my tribe was shattering and reforming around me.
From "Between the World and Me" by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
