splinter
Americannoun
-
splinters
plural
-
a small, thin, sharp piece of wood, bone, or the like, split or broken off from the main body.
- Synonyms:
- sliver
verb (used with object)
-
splinters,
present (3rd person singular)
-
splintered,
past participle, past
-
splintering
present participle
-
to split or break into splinters.
-
to break off (something) in splinters.
-
to split or break (a larger group) into separate factions or independent groups.
-
Obsolete. to secure or support by a splint or splints, as a broken limb.
noun
-
a very small sharp piece of wood, glass, metal, etc, characteristically long and thin, broken off from a whole
-
a metal fragment, from the container of a shell, bomb, etc, thrown out during an explosion
verb
-
to reduce or be reduced to sharp fragments; shatter
-
to break or be broken off in small sharp fragments
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
splintersimple
-
splinterssimple
-
have splinteredperfect
-
has splinteredperfect
-
am splinteringprogressive
-
are splinteringprogressive
-
is splinteringprogressive
-
have been splinteringperfect progressive
-
has been splinteringperfect progressive
Past
-
splinteredsimple
-
had splinteredperfect
-
was splinteringprogressive
-
were splinteringprogressive
-
had been splinteringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of splinter
1350–1400; Middle English < Middle Dutch or Middle Low German; cf. splint
Explanation
A splinter is a narrow, pointed sliver that breaks off something larger. If you walk barefoot on a wooden floor, dock, or boardwalk, you might get a splinter of wood in your foot. Ouch! We often use the word splinter to refer to tiny shards of wood that lodge under the skin, but a sliver of any hard material — stone, glass, bone, wood, metal — can be called a splinter. When something splinters, it breaks into individual bits. You can also use the word figuratively to describe something that separates in a violent or forceful way, like when a mainstream political party splinters into more or less extreme groups.
Vocabulary lists containing splinter
Unit 1: Telling Details
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
"Mother to Son"
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
"Mississippi Solo" by Eddy Harris
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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 bloc of governors would have to splinter before a majority of Fed voters in favor of a hike could carry the day.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 31, 2026
President Bola Tinubu said the attackers were militants from Ansaru, a Boko Haram splinter group known to operate in central Nigeria, extending into the southwest.
From Barron's ● Jul. 11, 2026
The Wall Street Journal spoke to heads of government, their ministers and top aides to reconstruct the closed-door meetings where the alliance began to splinter.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026
That threat could be a pathogen inside the body or something as simple as a splinter.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 1, 2026
Cracks splinter up my arms and through my shoulders and the front of my neck.
From "We Were Liars" by E. Lockhart
But as the middle-class splinters along generational lines, other political experts warn that many ordinary Angelenos feel increasingly shut out of L.A. politics.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 7, 2026
I also wanted to understand if my treatment, which forced me to excavate painful childhood memories lodged beneath the surface, like splinters the skin had long healed over, could help others.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 26, 2026
Speak the speech, I pray you, but not in such a way that splinters the overall story.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 26, 2026
Most top directors can’t act to save their lives, which is why they tend to appear as themselves and stick out like splinters.
From Salon ● Dec. 21, 2025
He described Neubauer as having "splinters on top of his brain" from his war wound.
From Nazi Saboteurs by Samantha Seiple
A splintered vote could open the door for Pelphrey, extraordinary as the deeply flawed single dad on “Task.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026
“Immediately noticeable were the sagging eaves, the multitude of leaks from the roof, the dried out, splintered mahogany and the battered exterior woodwork, which had suffered seven decades of winds from the Sound.”
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 9, 2026
Its army eventually withdrew and the Islamist militants left behind splintered and turned against each other.
From BBC ● Jun. 6, 2026
After a brief period of postrevolutionary hope, Libya splintered a few years later into two rival governments.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 9, 2026
The cabinet, table, and chairs splintered to pieces as they crashed to the concrete courtyard.
From "The Boy on the Wooden Box" by Leon Leyson
These surge for tens of kilometers, splintering trees, igniting forests and burying the remnants beneath hot ash and pumice.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 22, 2026
The serious journalism Margaret aspires to do is splintering under our distrust of who controls the megaphones.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 10, 2026
Individual investors kicked off 2026 by taking a page from the playbook of global central banks and stockpiling gold as a hedge against a splintering world order.
From MarketWatch ● Feb. 10, 2026
Price’s thesis is simple, but unsettling: modern digital life — especially social media — is turbocharging our anxieties and splintering our attention spans, making what she calls “True Fun” feel increasingly elusive.
From Salon ● Nov. 18, 2025
Ambrose Spike had reported some minor splintering at the top inside edges of the door, but the shoring of earthworks was holding out.
From "Redwall" by Brian Jacques
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.
