fragmentary

adjective frag·men·tary \ ˈfrag-mən-ˌter-ē \

|Updated on: 9 Jun 2018

Examples: fragmentary in a Sentence

Definition of fragmentary

: consisting of fragments : incomplete

fragmentary evidence

a fragmentary account

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fragmentarily

play \ˌfrag-mən-ˈter-ə-lē\ adverb

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fragmentariness

play \ˈfrag-mən-ˌter-ē-nəs\ noun

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Examples of fragmentary in a Sentence

discovering fragmentary remains of primitive animals
the historical record of this pharaoh's life and reign is fragmentary at best

Recent Examples of fragmentary from the Web

Many of the works are composed of multiple, fragmentary objects made of plain canvas or lead wrapped around stretchers, which build up to loopy, engaging, figurative abstractions.

— charles desmarais, San Francisco Chronicle, "Charles Desmarais’ art picks for April 29," 4 May 2018
Many of the works are composed of multiple, fragmentary objects made of plain canvas or lead wrapped around stretchers, which build up to loopy, engaging, figurative abstractions.

— charles desmarais, San Francisco Chronicle, "Charles Desmarais’ art picks for April 29," 4 May 2018
For more than a century the only known skulls of the ancient bird Ichthyornis were either fragmentary, smashed flat or both.

— sid perkins, Scientific American, "New Fossils Offer Clues about a Primordial Bird Beak," 2 May 2018
In the book’s final form — fragmentary, cyclical, a collection of scraps and dreams — conversations still echo throughout.

— molly fischer, The Cut, "Should Sheila Heti Have a Baby?," 1 May 2018
His sculptures are immersed in the fragmentary past, but their extraordinary beauty emerges as an intensely present reality.

— dominic green, WSJ, "‘Rodin and the Art of Ancient Greece’ Review: Recasting History," 28 Apr. 2018
More common are stories about mothering—either neat, linear narratives that culminate in pregnancy or birth, or, from the last decade, fraught, often fragmentary narratives about the relationship between mothering and writing.

— maggie doherty, The New Republic, "On Not Becoming a Mother," 25 Apr. 2018
Many of the works are composed of multiple, fragmentary objects made of plain canvas or lead wrapped around stretchers, which build up to loopy, engaging, figurative abstractions.

— San Francisco Chronicle, "SFChronicle critics’ picks: What to do the week of April 29," 25 Apr. 2018
Zach Galifianakis brings flashes of comic energy to the fragmentary role of Happy Medium.

— joe morgenstern, WSJ, "‘A Wrinkle in Time’ Review: Disney Trips on a Tesseract," 8 Mar. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'fragmentary.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.