definitions

splinter group

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR splinter group ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

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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RELATED WORDS

faction, schismatic, groupuscule

Nearby words

spliff, spline, splint, splint bone, splinter, splinter group, splintery, split, split brain, split cane, split decision
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

British Dictionary definitions for splinter group

splinter group

noun

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
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Idioms and Phrases with splinter group

splinter group

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]

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.