splinter group

American  

noun

1. a small organization that becomes separated from or acts apart from an original larger group or a number of other small groups, with which it would normally be united, as because of disagreement.

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splinter group British  

noun

1. a number of members of an organization, political party, etc, who split from the main body and form an independent association, usually as the result of dissension

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splinter group Idioms  

1. A part of an organization that breaks away from the main body, usually owing to disagreement. For example, Perot's supporters at first constituted a splinter group but soon formed a third political party. This idiom alludes to the noun splinter, a fragment of wood or some other material that is split or broken off. [Mid-1900s]

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

splinter group

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

Recently six countries representing most of the bloc’s economy and population formed a splinter group to drive the idea forward, and their leaders are trying to persuade others to join.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 2026

Iswap is a splinter group of Islamist militant group Boko Haram, which has been waging an insurgency in north-eastern Nigeria for more than a decade.

From BBC ● Nov. 29, 2025

One afternoon shortly after the vote, members of the splinter group gathered outside of San Francisco, hiking through the chaparrals of the San Bruno hills, and plotted what to do next.

From Salon ● Nov. 14, 2024

Initial reports tied Mr. Aziz to a terrorist splinter group, but the FBI now is now calling it a simple case of mistaken identity.

From "Love, Hate & Other Filters" by Samira Ahmed