fragmented

adjective

frag·​ment·​ed ˈfrag-ˌmen-təd 

1

: broken or separated into distinct parts

Another fragmented language group is the Austroasiatic family, whose most widely spoken languages are Vietnamese and Cambodian.

—Jared Diamond

The reality seems to be that the global audience for movies has become increasingly diverse and fragmented, which runs against Hollywood's obsession with finding that magic common denominator.

—Peter Bart

2

computing : having related or associated pieces of stored data disorganized in a way that makes them more difficult to access

Fragmented files require much more work to read than contiguous files, because to do so DOS must chase down each sector, possibly moving the disk head back and forth many times. Each of these … slows the task at hand and results in additional wear and tear on your hard disk.

—Brett Glass

You probably won't notice a marked performance boost unless your hard drive is extremely fragmented.

—Doug Stanley

Synonyms

• fractured
• broken
• shattered
• smashed

Examples of fragmented in a Sentence

restoring the fragmented Roman sculpture was like putting together a jigsaw puzzle

Recent Examples on the Web

By fostering stronger partnerships between CIOs and CFOs, enterprises can move beyond fragmented innovation and into a future where finance is not just automated, but accountable and ready to lead. —Sumit Johar, Forbes.com, 30 July 2025

After a massive wave of consolidation from the oil and gas producers the last two years, the fragmented services sector is now shrinking as well as the top players buy up more of the midsized players. —Jordan Blum, Fortune, 29 July 2025

Africa may remain trapped by weak governance and fragmented markets. —W. Gyude Moore, semafor.com, 28 July 2025

The painting on the cover serves as a perfect metaphor for the themes of the book: that what appears fragmented is still part of a whole; that love, like fruit, ripens in its own time. —Claire Adam, People.com, 28 July 2025

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1817, in the meaning defined at sense 1