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

A computer's hard drive becomes more and more fragmented every time a file is saved, a file is deleted or a program is installed.

—Shea Conner

Synonyms of fragmented

• 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

The three-year FAU/UCF study of 450 seniors in South and Central Florida found that drivers with mild cognitive decline exhibited less control of the gas pedal, took shorter or more fragmented trips, engaged in frequent hard braking, and drove lower average speeds. —Cindy Krischer Goodman, Miami Herald, 12 May 2026

Guests first move through a dim corridor lined with towering stacks of CRT televisions flickering with grainy studio footage, ambient static and fragmented vocals. —Jonathan Cohen, SPIN, 12 May 2026

Without that, measurement becomes fragmented and progress is hard to see. —Katy George, Time, 11 May 2026

Vatkin is represented by works in his signature style, where thick, layered brushstrokes, fragmented forms and a vivid use of color create a sense of motion and instability. —ABC News, 11 May 2026

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1817, in the meaning defined at sense 1