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 ESL was a splinter league formed by 12 of Europe's biggest clubs, including six from the Premier League.
From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2026
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
Black Muslims came in many stripes, from mainline Nation of Islam to the splinter Five Percenters.
From "Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing" by Ted Conover
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
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
Pitchers build arm strength by pitching, not by growing splinters on their collective butts.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 20, 2025
It had stained-glass windows, white walls, and roughly hewn wood benches that could give you splinters if you wiggled too much, and hurt your bottom if you sat too long.
From "March Forward, Girl" by Melba Pattillo Beals
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
Other chapters, written in splintered, sharply poeticized fragments, assume Gelsomina’s point of view.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026
Its army eventually withdrew and the Islamist militants left behind splintered and turned against each other.
From BBC ● Jun. 6, 2026
He traced a finger over the splintered and warped lid, then let his hand fall.
From "Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky" by Kwame Mbalia
Many see the AI trade, once a monolithic bet on chip stocks and hyperscalers, splintering.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
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 splintering of mass media, the confluence of a cultural icon whose priorities are so admirable — the zeitgeist will simply never again support someone so pure of heart.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026
Now this very coalition is splintering as his support spirals downward.
From Salon ● Feb. 21, 2026
In the morning, after he’s gone to work but before I’ve gone to school, I open his yellowing and splintering bedroom door.
From "Hurricane Child" by Kheryn Callender
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions 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.
