1
as in disbanded
to cease to exist or cause to cease to exist as a group or organization
the band broke up when their arguments over money grew too stressful
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in stopped
to come to an end
the meeting broke up when all the business for the day had been completed
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in divided
to set or force apart
he broke up the rocks in the old stone wall with a crowbar, sending them tumbling to the ground
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4
as in cracked
to yield to mental or emotional stress
the sort of person who would be among the first to break up in a prisoner of war camp
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5
as in ceased
to bring (as an action or operation) to an immediate end
police arrived at the scene and immediately broke up the fracas
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6
as in disrupted
to cause to separate into pieces usually suddenly or forcibly
break up the feta cheese and spread it over the salad
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7
as in laughed
to show mirth with an explosive vocal sound
if you break up during the skit, the audience will know that you're in on the joke
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of broke up
The two broke up in 1999; Stone died earlier this year in a car accident.
—
Stephanie Sengwe, PEOPLE, 14 Oct. 2025
Officials broke up the fisticuffs soon after.
—Ryan Gaydos, FOXNews.com, 8 Oct. 2025
Married Zack Goytowski and Bliss Poureetezadi had one of the stranger journeys on Love Is Blind, mainly because Zack initially broke up with Bliss in favor of Irina Solomonova, who proved herself to be perhaps the meanest contestant in the show's history.
—Randall Colburn, Entertainment Weekly, 1 Oct. 2025
The Replacements broke up in 1991, though Paul Westerberg and Tommy Stinson toured together under the band name from 2013-15.
—Brian Hiatt, Rolling Stone, 1 Oct. 2025
Love targeted Golden in the middle of the back of the end zone, but linebacker Jack Sanborn broke up the pass with, luckily for Green Bay, one second still on the clock.
—Matt Schneidman, New York Times, 29 Sep. 2025
But the speakers broke up and distorted at this volume.
—Eric Zeman, PC Magazine, 17 Sep. 2025
Police reported Sunday there was no evidence of shots being fired; however, officers broke up several fights among juveniles while on scene.
—Pj Green, Kansas City Star, 16 Sep. 2025
On the other side of the ball, Flowers, a defensive back, broke up a pass in the waning minutes.
—Noah White, Miami Herald, 2 Sep. 2025
Stephanie Sengwe, PEOPLE, 14 Oct. 2025
Officials broke up the fisticuffs soon after.
—Ryan Gaydos, FOXNews.com, 8 Oct. 2025
Married Zack Goytowski and Bliss Poureetezadi had one of the stranger journeys on Love Is Blind, mainly because Zack initially broke up with Bliss in favor of Irina Solomonova, who proved herself to be perhaps the meanest contestant in the show's history.
—Randall Colburn, Entertainment Weekly, 1 Oct. 2025
The Replacements broke up in 1991, though Paul Westerberg and Tommy Stinson toured together under the band name from 2013-15.
—Brian Hiatt, Rolling Stone, 1 Oct. 2025
Love targeted Golden in the middle of the back of the end zone, but linebacker Jack Sanborn broke up the pass with, luckily for Green Bay, one second still on the clock.
—Matt Schneidman, New York Times, 29 Sep. 2025
But the speakers broke up and distorted at this volume.
—Eric Zeman, PC Magazine, 17 Sep. 2025
Police reported Sunday there was no evidence of shots being fired; however, officers broke up several fights among juveniles while on scene.
—Pj Green, Kansas City Star, 16 Sep. 2025
On the other side of the ball, Flowers, a defensive back, broke up a pass in the waning minutes.
—Noah White, Miami Herald, 2 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for broke up
Verb
-
Soon after the May 2024 text exchange, the group chat disbanded.—
Charlotte Phillipp,
PEOPLE,
21 Oct. 2025
-
The Indiana 50501 protest group disbanded due to internal infighting.—
Cate Charron,
IndyStar,
17 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
On Sunday, Jeanty was stopped for a loss or no gain on four of his 10 runs against light boxes, and overall, the Las Vegas Raiders were stuffed 11 times on 29 attempts — the most of any team in a game this season.—
Vic Tafur,
New York Times,
16 Oct. 2025
-
This was a couple who had never stopped laughing at one another’s jokes, who still held hands like teenagers into their 50s.—
Bee Wilson,
Vogue,
15 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Scholars are perpetually divided.—
JSTOR Daily,
JSTOR Daily,
18 Oct. 2025
-
The situation is a potential turnaround from just six months ago, when Democrats and their allies were divided and despondent.—
Emma Burleigh,
Fortune,
18 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Pollard hasn’t cracked 100 yards this season, as the Titans have struggled to control the line of scrimmage in most games.—
Andrew Callahan,
Boston Herald,
18 Oct. 2025
-
The last six decades or so have been an extremely subtle hint, and the rest of us have cracked the code.—
Sean McIndoe,
New York Times,
17 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
The Highway Patrol notified the Marines of the incident and the military ceased firing live rounds.—
Zac Anderson,
USA Today,
20 Oct. 2025
-
Eventually, the extended family gatherings ceased altogether.—
Elizabeth Wolfe,
CNN Money,
12 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Big Deal Amazon Web Services (AWS) experienced a major outage on October 20 that disrupted the websites of several major businesses, including Snapchat, Hulu, crypto exchange Coinbase, and the online brokerage Robinhood.—
Sheryl Estrada,
Fortune,
21 Oct. 2025
-
Kathryn Palmer The shutdown unfortunately disrupted my weekend plans to check out the FDR Presidential Library in upstate New York, but the gorgeous fall weather in the area was a welcome consolation.—
Kathryn Palmer,
USA Today,
20 Oct. 2025
Verb
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When Schneider finally marched to the mound in the seventh to take the ball, members of the rotation gathered by the dugout railing and laughed.—
Mitch Bannon,
New York Times,
17 Oct. 2025
-
Simmons, Stanley, and drummer Peter Criss initially laughed at his bell bottom trousers and multi-colored shoes.—
Andy Greene,
Rolling Stone,
16 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
To detect such a minute signal, the researchers dissolved the powdered rocks in acid, isolated the resulting potassium, and then used an ultra-sensitive mass spectrometer to precisely measure the ratios of the element's three isotopes, according to the new study.—
Sharmila Kuthunur,
Space.com,
20 Oct. 2025
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Under an order issued last week by Immergut, the administration now has 48 hours to request that her second temporary restraining order against the deployment be dissolved.—
Sharon Bernstein,
Sacbee.com,
20 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Broke up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/broke%20up. Accessed 23 Oct. 2025.
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