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

• broken
• busted
• fractured
• shattered
• smashed

Examples of fragmented in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The travel insurance industry is extremely fragmented, with several independent parties responsible for technology, underwriting, product creation, customer service, claims, and emergency assistance. —Christopher Elliott, Forbes, 30 Mar. 2024

But by then the AfD may well prove to be Germany’s second-biggest party, and the party system may be so fragmented that unstable and ineffective three-party coalitions, such as the one Scholz is leading today, may be the country’s only option. —Joseph De Weck, The Atlantic, 20 Mar. 2024

But after decades of habitat destruction, these handsome insects are now fragmented and locally extinct, holding out in the wettest fens, valleys, and peat bogs of the New Forest and Dorset. —Matthew Ponsford, WIRED, 19 Mar. 2024

More recently, the always fragmented and fractious political opposition has been hollowed out by arrests of many leading figures on grounds of anti-war agitation. —Fred Weir, The Christian Science Monitor, 15 Mar. 2024

Still, in today’s fragmented TV landscape, anything near 20 million viewers is nothing to sneeze at. —Julie Hinds, Detroit Free Press, 8 Mar. 2024

The fragmented way that health care and dental care are paid for is one of them. —Lola Butcher, Smithsonian Magazine, 29 Mar. 2024

At a time of fragmented media consumption, sporting events remain one of the few moments when millions of people are paying attention to the same thing at the same time. —Sergii Denysenko, Forbes, 29 Mar. 2024

Restoring the helmet The fragmented helmet was found alongside a trove of coins and pig bones as part of a shrine dating to around 43 A.D., according to museum officials. —Brendan Rascius, Miami Herald, 25 Mar. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1817, in the meaning defined at sense 1