splatter
Americanverb (used with or without object)
noun
-
an act or instance of splattering.
-
the quantity splattered.
to wipe up a splatter of ketchup on the rug.
adjective
verb
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
splattersimple
-
splatterssimple
-
have splatteredperfect
-
has splatteredperfect
-
am splatteringprogressive
-
are splatteringprogressive
-
is splatteringprogressive
-
have been splatteringperfect progressive
-
has been splatteringperfect progressive
Past
-
splatteredsimple
-
had splatteredperfect
-
was splatteringprogressive
-
were splatteringprogressive
-
had been splatteringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of splatter
Explanation
In horror movies, you'll see a lot of blood splattering on walls. Ick. To splatter is to splash liquid. A splatter is also the spot the liquid makes. When you spill some liquid on the ground, the sound it makes is splat. Splash a lot of it, and you have a splatter — drops of the liquid across a large area. If you are frying meat in a hot pan, the grease will splatter across the stove and counter near it. In the figurative use, gossip about a celebrity's mishaps is often splattered throughout a gossip magazine like spilled milk on a floor.
Vocabulary lists containing splatter
Holes
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A Thousand Splendid Suns
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Salt to the Sea
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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:
The remarkable Ms. Weaving is a contender for Australian Scream Queen, but few would expect Mr. Segel, a Judd Apatow mainstay, to star in a splatter comedy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
Obeid has become a key logistics hub for the Sudanese army, and incessant attacks from UAV-stalked skies push soldiers to splatter mud on vehicles to obscure them from drone optics.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 24, 2026
With the horror space as saturated as it is, a growing audience craves senseless splatter films.
From Salon ● Feb. 26, 2025
There was no trace of Yablonka, including any blood splatter.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 30, 2023
Tuti looked at the reservation book and made a face like she’d just witnessed a flan de coco slip off her plate and splatter onto the floor.
From "The Epic Fail of Arturo Zamora" by Pablo Cartaya
Barn cats have been infected by drinking H5N1-infected milk that splatters around during the milking process.
From Salon ● Apr. 30, 2025
From the crevice of his ear to the shoelaces on his Converse sneakers, he’s covered entirely in unintentional paint splatters.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 8, 2024
Sound came out of his horn in splatters and whistles, with a blend of playfulness and deep spirit that made it clear that the vessel he used mattered little.
From New York Times ● Mar. 6, 2024
Next comes the primal sight - a full and swinging delivery from Wood that splatters the stumps.
From BBC ● Jul. 6, 2023
She wears the plastic gloves that come in the box and there are black splatters in surprising places for weeks after.
From "A Heart in a Body in the World" by Deb Caletti
His custom designs range variously include the Miesha name, a half-lady ghost-butterfly, splattered imagery, quotes in cursive and barbed wire lettering.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 5, 2026
Names splattered in from leftfield, a free-form approach to positions, a delicious cheese-dream of a bench – a side picked like Jackson Pollock paints.
From BBC ● Mar. 14, 2025
The painting “Actual Size” features a can of Spam rocketing across the canvas, trailing flames amid a shower of splattered blue paint.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 7, 2024
A video posted on the X social media platform shows two men covered in reddish-pink powder standing in front of the equally splattered horizontal glass case that houses the Constitution.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 14, 2024
Bits of leftover food splattered onto the ground and the adjacent wall.
From "Amal Unbound" by Aisha Saeed
"There are thousands of them together, all coughing and splattering," Bamford said, adding that the seals are also particularly "snotty".
From Barron's ● Nov. 13, 2025
But for those not yet comfortable with high-heat cooking, this can lead to issues — like smoke filling your kitchen or, worse, a fire from oil or fat splattering in the pan.
From Salon ● Feb. 21, 2025
Removing the moisture minimizes splattering as they fry.
From Washington Times ● Sep. 12, 2023
More than a dozen protagonists jostled against one another in a colonial gold mining town in 1860s New Zealand, kicking up dust, splattering guts and digging up the earth to make its riches their own.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 3, 2023
The rain ran down the brim of his hat, splattering on his shoulders.
From "Dragonwings" by Laurence Yep
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.
