splatter
Americanverb (used with or without object)
-
splatters,
present (3rd person singular)
-
splattered,
past participle, past
-
splattering
present participle
noun
-
splatters
plural
-
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
What, for me, separates splatter gore from body horror is that body horror always carries meaning.
From Salon ● Apr. 18, 2025
There was no trace of Yablonka, including any blood splatter.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 30, 2023
Drops splatter upward from pond-like puddles and blow in sideways but Celia does not feel any of them.
From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern
While one might assume there’s a small dedicated area where the rain is confined, that’s not the case — it splatters over the whole stage.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026
The splatters emphasized the pair’s vision for a band teetering between the beautiful and the grotesque.
From New York Times ● Mar. 21, 2024
Next comes the primal sight - a full and swinging delivery from Wood that splatters the stumps.
From BBC ● Jul. 6, 2023
Use it to avoid splatters from delicious sauces like salmoriglio or just plain red sauce.
From Salon ● Jul. 10, 2022
Liquid splatters all over, and he flinches as the hot droplets sting his back.
From "The Belles" by Dhonielle Clayton
Every visitor must exit through the Blood Room, a gruesomely immersive space whose walls are streaked, smeared, splattered and practically dripping with the red stuff.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026
This week the meal box came with a container of harissa sauce splattered over its contents.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026
Brushes, pens and pencils lie next to the ripped cuffs of cotton workshirts, and drops of blue and white paint are splattered on the floor, extending the artwork beyond the wall.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 2, 2026
With Green stepping back to flay an expected short ball, he was bluffed by a Carse yorker that splattered the stumps.
From BBC ● Dec. 5, 2025
Sticky purple drops of syrupy sap splattered my food.
From "Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky" by Kwame Mbalia
"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
Removing the moisture minimizes splattering as they fry.
From Washington Times ● Sep. 12, 2023
Especially when frying, she added, removing liquid through even a light pressing helps prevent splattering.
From Salon ● Nov. 13, 2022
Two women masquerading as crowd control officers hurled raw eggs at Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II as she rode in an open car today, splattering her pink coat with yellow yolk, police said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 9, 2022
It had started to rain; Harry felt heavy drops fall onto his face, splattering onto his glasses.
From "Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets" by J. K. Rowling
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.
